Doctor Who?
by LostFairy
Summary: The 10th Doctor, Rose and Jack go to earth to investigate when a woman is thrown into their universe, but why does the Doctor appear to know her? Soon they're caught up in the Doctor's dark past, from his lonely childhood to the Time War. 10Rose
1. Who is She?

Another story! Whoo! I've got loads of stories I'm writing at the moment, I thought it was about time I posted one. I seem to have a thing about writing stories in which somthing happens with the Doctor's past. I also seem to have a thing about them investigating disturbances in time. I'll try to avoid that from now on, I think. But until then...

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Torchwood. Not that not owning Torchwood really matters here, I'd just like to own them both.

xxx

Rose watched the Doctor intently as he leant over the consol, staring at the screen. His glasses were perched on his nose, and strands of hair fell over his eyes. His brow was furrowed as he concentrated on the information flashing across the screen. She wasn't sure if he knew she was watching him or not.

After about five minutes of watching him, Jack came striding into the room as if he was God, like he always does.

"Good morning!" He said happily, plonking himself on the seat next to Rose. "So what are we doing today? I fancy a bit of surfing I think, the planet Safalia is good for that, especially in the summer. Massive waves…"

"We're going to Earth." The Doctor stated, standing up. Jack looked surprised.

"Oh." He said, then grinned again, "Well, Earth's good! When are we going? I hear 4879 is good for surfing, global warming is just about to almost destroy the planet…"

"We not going surfing!" the Doctor looked quite annoyed now. "We're going to London, 2007. Lucky you Rose, you get to visit your mum!" he leant over the consol and started setting a route. "Lucky me, I get a slap for bringing you back months after your last visit." The engines started moving, as the TARDIS went into flight.

"So… why are we going there?" asked Jack, mildly disappointed that they weren't going surfing.

"There's a time disturbance, something's happened and it's fracturing the universe. I can't find out what's wrong here, I need to get there and find out what's happened. Then I should be able to fix the wound." A few seconds later, the engines stopped moving, and the TARDIS juddered as it landed. Rose grinned, jumping up and running towards the door. The Doctor looked at his watch. "It's been about a year since we last visited. I'm in for a slap," he muttered, following Rose out. Jack just laughed.

xxx

The three of them stood outside Jackie's flat, waiting for her to answer the door.

"I really need to go find out what's causing the disturbance…" said the Doctor, trying to walk away.

"Oh come on, can't you spare two minutes to see my mum? You just don't wanna see her. And you never know, she might know something about this 'disturbance'."

"Yeah, she might be the disturbance," he muttered. Before Rose could say anything, the door flung open, revealing Jackie wearing her dressing gown, with half dried hair.

"Rose!" Jackie squealed, throwing her arms round her daughter.

"Hi mum!" Rose said, happily hugging her mother back. Jackie pulled away.

"Where the hell have you been? It's almost been a year! You said you'd come back every few months!"

"Sorry," Rose said, and was about to explain before Jackie cut her off.

"Well, just don't do it again! Come in, I've got to finish getting ready, Deb will be round any minute and I'm not even dressed!"

"Who's Deb?" asked Rose, sitting on the sofa.

"She moved in a few days ago," Jackie called back as she walked into her room, "we're going shopping, she'll be here any minute!" he voice was cut off as her door closed, and they heard the muffled sound of a hair dryer. Jack sat on the sofa next to Rose, and the Doctor sat on the chair opposite them, got out his sonic screwdriver, and turned it on. Rose asked him what he was doing.

"Doing a search for the disturbance," he answered, watching the screwdriver and listening to the sound it make, "I think it's a person, thrown through to this universe," he listened intently to the sounds that only seemed to make sense to him. He sat up suddenly. "They're coming up here," he said. Rose and Jack looked at each other.

"Maybe it's Deb," suggested Rose.

"Could be, Jackie said she moved in a few days ago. The disturbance happened a few days ago… five to be precise…" he turned on the sonic screwdriver again, and the sound gradually rose in pitch. "They're getting closer…" the sound got higher and higher, louder and louder, until it was finally interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.

"That's her!" came Jackie's voice from her bedroom. The Doctor, Rose and Jack all looked at each other, as Jackie ran out of her bedroom and down the hall, pulling a jacket on. She opened the door and they heard her and another woman greeting each other. Jackie walked her into the living room. "Rose is visiting with her friends, she's just in the living room, I need to finish getting ready I'll only be a second." They walked into the living room, and the three travellers look up to see them. Jackie was accompanied by a woman who looked in her late 20s. She was about as tall as Jackie, with wavy, light brown hair, and light brown eyes. Jack couldn't help but think she looked terribly pretty. "Everyone, this is Deb," said Jackie, "Deb, meet Rose, Jack, and the Doctor." She said hi to each of them, and Rose and Jack said hi back. But the Doctor didn't respond. He just stared, wide eyed, as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Doctor?" Rose whispered, but he didn't react.

"Are you ok?" asked Deb. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't seem to know what to say.

"Gotta go," he said quickly, jumping up and running out of the room.

"Doctor!" Rose called, and ran out after him. The front door of the flat slammed shut.

"I'd better go see what's wrong," said Jack standing up. Then he looked at Deb. 'Well,' he thought 'I can stay for a little bit…'

xxx

The Doctor ran down the stairs three steps at a time, burst out of the doors and into the TARDIS, ran through the corridors and into the library, followed by a breathless Rose.She ran into the library shortly after him, to find him pulling books off a bookshelf.

"What are you doing?" She asked breathlessly, "What's wrong?" but he didn't answer, he kept pulling books off the shelf. Then he reached behind the shelf with both arms and carefully pulled out a box. It looked very old and ornate, with the most complicated lock on the front. He stood back from the bookshelf and held the box in front of him, closing his eyes. The lock on the front then shifted and neatly clicked open, the small bars that were keeping the box closed moving back. He opened the box and started searching through it for something. Then he pulled out a small photo, and put the box on a table next to him. He brushed the dust off the photo and stared at it.

"Oh my god…" he whispered to himself. Rose walked next to him and looked at the photo, and her eyes widened. It had been taken in a photo booth, inside which were a man and a woman, kissing each other. The man had longish, black hair, and was wearing a shirt and jeans. Rose didn't know who he was, but there was no doubt about who the woman was. It was Deb. "Tell me I'm not going crazy," said the Doctor shakily, "Tell me that's Deb." Rose nodded.

"It's Deb," she said, then looked up at the Doctor. "Who is she? Who's that man? Is he…" then something dawned on her. "Is he _you_?" she gasped, "Is he you, like, in another body, before you met me? Is she your girlfriend or something?" The Doctor didn't answer, and just kept staring at the photo. His expression seemed to be a mixture of emotions, and Rose couldn't quite tell how he was feeling. He looked confused, scared, surprised, sad, curious and happy all at the same time. But the main thing she saw in his eyes was pain. "Doctor?" she whispered. He looked at her, his eyes shining. She put her hand on his, and realised he was shaking slightly.

"She's not my girlfriend," he said quietly, his voice shaking. He looked back at the photo. "She's my mother."


	2. Blast from the Past

Chapter 2! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and please if you read it do reveiw! I love you all.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Rose's eyes widened. "Your _mother_?!" she gasped. All he could do was nod. "But… But… Surely… but she's human! Isn't she?"

"Yeah," he said quietly. This made no sense to Rose.

"But… you're a Time Lord! Your parents can't be human!"

"My mother's human, my father's Gallifreyan. I'm half human." Rose's mouth fell open. Before she could answer, Jack came running into the room.

"Here you are!" he gasped, "I've been looking all over for you! Sorry I'm late, I tried flirting with her but turns out she's married and pregnant… oh well. Anyway, what's happening here?" Rose looked at the Doctor, who looked as if he was about to be sick.

"You… flirted with her?"

"Yeah!" Jack said it almost proudly. "Why? Who is she?" He noticed the photo the Doctor was holding, and walked up next to him and looked at the photo. "What the… is that her??" The Doctor didn't answer, and walked back over to the table and picked the box up. "But… who was the guy? Wait, is she you're girlfriend or something??" The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"She's my mother," he said. Jack blinked.

"But you're an alien! How is she you mother?!"

"He's half human," explained Rose quickly. The Doctor put the photo back in the box and closed it, and the lock clicked into place. He walked back to the bookshelf and put the box back behind it, and started replacing the books.

"Ok…" said Jack, running this through his mind. "But what's so surprising about her being here? I mean if she's human then she's going to be on Earth." The Doctor turned to them and started explaining.

"After the Time War, the Universe was split in two: the universe before the Time War, and the universe after the Time War. I tried to get back before the Time War but I couldn't 'cause it's impossible to travel between the two. Anything or anyone that had anything to do with the Time Lords was pretty much wiped from time and space after the Time War, and since she's my mother, she shouldn't be here. She shouldn't exist!" he took a deep breath. "But she does. She got somehow thrown into this universe. She's the disturbance. And I've got to take her back or I'll never be born and it'll all get very confusing." He paused.

"But if it's impossible to go back to before the Time War," said Jack, "how are you going to get her back?"

"She's got a connection to that universe, I may be able to get through. If she knows her husband's an alien…" he thought for a second, then looked at Jack. "Did you say she was pregnant?" he nodded. "Oh great, she's pregnant with me." He tried to think back to what his father had told him about when Deb was pregnant, which was very little. "I don't know if she knows that he's an alien yet. Let's hope so, it'll make it a lot easier when she finds out what's happened."

"So are you going to tell her you're her son?" asked Jack.

"No!" he answered quickly, "of course not! What am I meant to say? 'Hi, my name's the Doctor, and by the way I'm your 900 year old alien son.' Somehow I don't think that'll go down very well."

"So what are you going to tell her?"

"That I can get her back. She'll know something's happened. Shouldn't be too hard."

"Let's go then," said Rose.

"Yeah, let's go." The Doctor didn't move. They stood there for a few seconds, waiting.

"So are we going?" asked Jack.

"Yeah." Said the Doctor. He still didn't move.

"That usually involves something called walking," said Jack sarcastically.

"Shut up," the Doctor snapped. He looked at the door, looking terribly worried.

"You ok?" Rose asked, walking up to him.

"Yeah, fine," he said, but she knew he wasn't.

"What's wrong? She's only your mum, you grew up with her! It's not like you've never spoken to her before," he turned to her and gave her a look she wasn't altogether sure she liked. "Doctor?" she whispered. He shook his head.

"Yeah, you're right. It's just been a long time. Let's go!" He walked out the door, and Rose and Jack followed him.

xxx

The Doctor took a deep breath, before knocking on the door of the flat. They waited a few seconds in silence, before Jackie swung the door open.

"There you are!" she yelled, "Where'd you go? You can't just go running off like that, it's rude!"

"Something happened… I need to speak to Deb," the Doctor said quickly.

"Why? What's going on now?" asked Jackie, annoyed.

"I just need to speak to her!" the Doctor insisted. Jackie was still for a second, before moving to let him past her. He walked into the living room, closely followed by Rose, Jack and Jackie. Deb was on the sofa, and quickly stood up when they came in. The Doctor gulped. "Hello," he said in a high voice, but quickly shook it off. "Hello," he repeated, sounding slightly more normal. "Right. Um. This may sound slightly weird, but… I can take you back. I'm not human, I'm a Time Lord, like your husband. You do know he's an alien… don't you?" He looked at her uncertainly, as she stared back at him. Suddenly her face broke out into a grin.

"You can take me back??" she asked excitedly. He smiled, relieved, and nodded. She let out a laugh, ran up to him and threw her arms around him. "Thank you! Thank you!" she cried. The Doctor stood, completely startled.

"Um… that's ok…" he said shakily, raising his arms to put around her waist and return the hug, but she pulled away.

"How did you know?" she asked, and for a second the Doctor didn't seem to know what to say.

"I could feel the baby," he said quickly, "all Time Lords can sense each other, I could sense the baby." She nodded and smiled at him, and he smiled back, but before either could say anything more, Jackie walked in between them.

"Wait!" she demanded, "just wait! What's going on?" She looked between the Doctor and Deb, stepping back, waiting for an explanation.

"Deb isn't from this universe, she's from another one. Well, it's the same universe essentially, but… well, it's very confusing. But basically I can get her back," the Doctor explained quickly. Jackie looked at Deb, who nodded. Jackie let out an annoyed grunt, folding her arms.

"Why can't anything ever be normal when you're around?" she said, sounding sad and annoyed. She walked through them and sat on the sofa on the other side of the room. "Why does everything have to be to do with aliens?"

"Hey, be thankful that you're not being attacked by aliens this time," said the Doctor, "besides, it won't take long to take her back. Nothing will go wrong, promise!"

"Something always goes wrong," moaned Jackie.

"Well if it does I'll try to make sure it doesn't include you. Now, Deb, if you would like to come down to the TARDIS, I'll see about getting you back," he gave her a quick smile, before turning round and heading out the door. Deb, Rose and Jack followed him out.

xxx

"So you're from Gallifrey, like my husband?" Deb asked as they walked down the steps from the flat.

"Indeed I am," replied the Doctor.

"So what are you doing on Earth? He said that his people hardly ever leave their planet."

"They do hardly ever leave, but for me they made an exception," he gave her a quick smile, before looking forward again.

"Right…" she muttered, pausing for a second, before following him again. The Doctor walked through the doors and was met by a cold wind that blew his coat outwards, making him look rather heroic. He smiled to himself.

As he got nearer to the TARDIS, he ran the last few steps and began fishing in his pockets for the key. The others caught up with him, and Deb looked at the TARDIS in wonder. "I thought those ships were meant to blend in with their surroundings?"

"Yeah, they are supposed to, but the circuit on my ship broke years ago, so it's stuck like this. I rather like it, don't you?"

"Doesn't it stick out a bit?"

"Not really." He pushed the door open and walked in, Rose and Jack following him. Deb stepped in a second later, and looked around in awe. "Never been in a TARDIS before?" the Doctor asked.

"I went inside my husband's… it was very different to this."

"They're all rather different," he said, moving to the control panel and fiddling with some buttons. He watched the screen as it light up with words and symbols. "Right," he said after a few seconds, "Can't take you back straight away, the TARDIS needs to charge up. It'll only take about a day or so, you can stay here if you want." He looked up at her and smiled for what seemed like the thousandth time that day.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "I think I'd better go up and talk to Jackie, she didn't seem to take that too well…" the Doctor laughed and turned back to the consol.

"She's used to it," he said, switching some dials. "She'll probably still want to go shopping, though. If I know Jackie, which I do, I know she'll want to go shopping. It's her favourite hobby, next to hating me," they all sniggered, and he looked back up, "go on then, better not keep her waiting. Oh wait…" he ran up to her, fishing for something in his pocket, "here, have this. Use it to get back in when you're ready to go," he handed her over a TARDIS key, and stepped back to the consol as she looked at it in her hand. "See you later then. Bye!" he waved, and she waved back and said bye to each of them, and walked out of the TARDIS. As she shut the door behind her, the Doctor let out a long sigh. "That was the weirdest thing ever," he said.

"You did great!" said Rose, running up to him. "I know how weird it is to do something like that – I met my dad and I never even knew him!" The Doctor smiled.

"Yea, I know how you feel now," he said. There was a beep from the screen and he looked down at it. "Ah, I need to do some repairs," he said, flicking some buttons, checking various read-outs. "The buffers aren't looking too good, and the temporal destination input has never been too accurate," he walked round the consol, knelt down and removed some of the grating from the floor and lowered himself beneath the controls. Rose knew that he probably wanted to be left alone, and walked out of the room. Jack quickly followed her.

xxx

Once they were in the corridor, Rose and Jack turned to face each other, each looking as surprised as the other.

"Did you know he was half human?" asked Jack.

"No! Did you?"

"No! What I don't understand is why doesn't he just tell her he's her son? If she knows she's going to have an alien child, then it won't be that much of a surprise for her."

"I know, exactly. Maybe he'll tell her later."

"Maybe." The was a pause, until:

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"We're going back to before the Time War, when the Time Lords were still alive. You know what that means?"

"What?" a grin crossed Rose's face.

"We get to see Gallifrey."


	3. Baby Names

I got one review for the last chapter. :( pleeeeaaaaaase reveiw if you read this! You're making me all upset. A big thank you to Scout girl who did review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

The Doctor was working on the TARDIS when Deb came back in again. He poked his head out from underneath the consol.

"Hello!" he chirped. Deb gasped and jumped backwards.

"What are you doing under there?!" she asked breathlessly.

"Fixing the TARDIS," he replied, "I think it's just about done now. You were quick shopping! You've only been…" he looked at his watch, "oh, ok, 5 hours, maybe not so quick after all. Anyway," he pulled himself up out from under the floor and brushed himself down, "I think I'm done with the repairs now, I was just fixing systems that I haven't used for years. We can go tomorrow morning at the earliest, but it's up to you. You can stay for a while if you want."

"Oh, thanks, I think I'll go then, I just want to get back to Eta. That's my husband, by the way. Weird name, I know, but he is an alien… though it's probably not that weird to you." The Doctor smiled and shook his head.

"No, not that weird to me," he said. He then looked around at the door that leads further into the TARDIS. "Jack and Rose have gone out there somewhere, if you want to find them. The TARDIS won't let you get lost, don't worry. I just need to do some last adjustments and I'll be done."

"Ok, thanks," she said, heading towards the door. He watched her leave, before going back under the consol again.

xxx

Rose was sat in the TARDIS kitchen, sipping a glass of water. She wasn't in there long before someone walked in.

"Deb!" she said happily, "sit down," she patted the chair next to her, and Deb sat down. "How was shopping?"

"It was good."

"How did my mum take the whole you being from another universe thing?"

"She was fine. She said that something like that always happens whenever the Doctor's around." Rose smiled and nodded.

"Yea, he does seem to have that effect." There was a pause, then:

"What is his name anyway?" Deb asked, "Jackie said she only ever calls him 'Doctor', and he never tells anyone his name. Do you know what it is? Doctor who?"

"Can't help you there, sorry," rose replied, shaking her head, "Mum's right, he never tells anyone his name." Suddenly an idea hit her. "What are you going to call your baby?" she asked, shifting slightly closer. Finally, she was going to fine out the doctor's name!

"Tom," she said decidedly. Rose blinked.

"Tom?"

"Tom. I've always wanted to call my child Tom if I had a boy. Eta - that's my husband, by the way - said he's fine with calling him a non-time lord name. I love the name Jack. Tom Sigma," she looked into the distance, rubbing her slightly bulging tummy. Rose was reeling.

"Tom?" she said again, more to herself than Deb.

"Yea... Why, don't you like it?" Rose seemed to snap out of a trance.

"I do like it! Sorry, yea it's a lovely name. So he's going to be called Tom Sigma?" she nodded proudly. Rose still couldn't believe it. If his name was Tom, then why didn't he tell anyone? What was so bad about it?

Just at that moment, the Doctor walked into the room. "Speak of the devil," Rose muttered. Only Deb heard, but she didn't get time to ask what rose meant.

"Right, TARDIS is fixed, we should be able to go in a couple of hours," he sat next to Deb and leant on the table. "So we've got some time to kill. Any suggestions?"

"I don't suppose we can go anywhere?" asked Rose.

"Nope, just good old London to entertain us," he said sarcastically.

"Fun," said rose, equally as sarcastic.

"Can you tell me something?" Deb asked the doctor.

"Sure."

"What's family life like on Gallifrey?" his smile began to fall. "What's it like bringing up children?" he stared into space for a second, lost in his own thoughts. Rose knew that look in his eyes, just like when he thought about the Time War. But surely his childhood couldn't have been that bad… he suddenly looked at Deb, and grinned. "Great!" he said, "absolutely brilliant. No better place in the universe!" he looked between Rose and Deb, grinning. But Rose knew he didn't mean it. There was something more, and she was going to find out what.

xxx

The TARDIS beeped as the Doctor walked around the consol, pressing various buttons and switching dials. He read the read out on screen, glasses perched on his nose, his brow furrowed. He tried another button, and the beeping stopped with a ping, and the frown disappeared and a smile took over. He pressed some more buttons, switched some more dials, completely oblivious to the fact that Rose was watching him from the doorway. A smile crossed her face, as she entered the room.

"Tom!" she said very loudly, throwing her arms into the air. The Doctor spun around and almost fell over, clinging onto the side of the panel. "It's a nice name, isn't it?" she walked slowly up to him, taking her time, "I really like that name, Tom. I know a lot of Toms. But you know what surname would go well with the name Tom? Sigma. Yeah, I think that works well. It's a nice name, Tom Sigma," she leant against the consol next to him, looking at him, "why don't you use it?" he gawped at her, his mouth hanging open, eyes wide. He looked as if she'd just told him his life secret, which she pretty much had.

"Wha…?!" he looked so funny Rose almost wished she had a camera on her. "How…?" Rose smiled and moved closer to him.

"I asked Deb what she's going to call her child. Tom Sigma. Correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe that is you," his look of complete confusion gradually decreased to just a stare.

"Rose," he said, his voice now level.

"Yes Tom?"

"Do me a favour," he leaned closer to her, so their eyes were inches apart. "Never say that name again." He moved away again back across the consol, fiddling with more controls. A frown crossed Rose's features.

"Why?" she asked, turning to face him.

"Long story."

"We've got time."

"I'd rather not go into it."

"Come on, what's so bad about the name Tom Si-"

"Don't!" he looked up pointing at her, "just don't say it!" he held her gaze for a second, before looking down again. He looked terribly angry, but she could see pain behind the anger.

"Why?" she asked again. "What happened? Come on, you can tell me," she walked around the consol so she was closer to him. He didn't move, but he didn't look at her.

"No I can't," he said simply. He moved further away from her. Rose was angry now. They always told each other everything, she never kept anything from him – why couldn't he just tell her?

"If don't tell me," she said sternly, putting her hands on her hips and following him round, "then I'll tell Deb you were lying to her about Gallifrey." He looked up at her, confused again. "I know what you said wasn't true, Doctor. I can tell when you're lying. And if you don't tell me why you hate your name so much and what happened to you as a child, then I'll tell her you're her son. I know you had a lonely childhood. I heard what Reinette said. And I'll tell her unless you tell me," she folded her arms, complete determined.

"You wouldn't," he whispered.

"I would." He watched her for just a second, completely disbelievingly. He looked back down at the consol, then looked up again a second later, but this time the look on his face completely broke her heart. He looked sad, desperate, lonely and betrayed all at the same time.

"Why?" he said, every so quietly, his voice shaking. Her arms instantly dropped to her sides, and she walked up to him and took his hand.

"Because I want to know what happened to you! It was clearly something really bad, and I want to help," he stepped back and turned his body to face her, taking his hand away.

"But it doesn't matter any more! That was years ago! It doesn't hurt any more!" he said, putting his arms up.

"But it does," she whispered, taking a step closer. "I can see it, in your eyes. It still hurts when you think about it, 900 years later. And I wanna know what happened. I want to help," she looked him straight in the eyes, and saw so many emotions she couldn't even begin to list them, or understand them. She took his hand, but he shook his head.

"I can't tell you," he said quietly, and walked away from her around the consol. She stood still for a second, before following him round.

"Why not?!" she demanded, "why? Does it hurt to think about it, 'cause believe me it helps if you talk to someone!" he just kept walking round the consol, trying to ignore her. "What, do you wanna protect me or something then? Is that it?" she kept following him round, her voice getting louder and louder, "'Cause I've seen all sorts of things and nothing can shock me!" Suddenly he stopped walking, and turned around, looking at her. Rose skidded to a stop and almost walked into him.

"It's complicated, ok?" he said, "You're right! I don't want to tell you because, yes, it does hurt, and I do want to protect you, and for so many other reasons! So just leave it, ok?" He leant down so he was level with her, and stared her right in the eye, and after a few seconds the harsh look on his face softened, and he said one word, "Please." Rose could hardly speak, and just looked down and nodded. He stayed near her for a second, before walking away.

"Sorry," she whispered, and walked out of the room.


	4. Meet the Parents

Oh

My

God.

It's happened. It's official. He's... he's... he's...

DAVID TENNANT HAS QUIT!!!!!!!

AAAAAHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DAVID COME BACK!!! DON'T LEAVE US!!!! WWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAA!!

What a silly boy. He gets what he's wanted all his life and he does something as stupid as quitting. Ugh. Well let's hope the next doctor is as good, even if there's no hope of him being as sexy. If you don't already know about it, there's loads of stuff on wikipedia on his page about it.

On a slightly lighter side, happy new year! (Not that it's been very happy so far, DAVID)

A big big thank you to all the people who review, it makes this traumatic time stlightly easier.

I know the story isn't looking very interesting so far (at least, I don't think it is), but I promise it does get much better, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, enough of the longest A/N ever, on with the story!

Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who, David Tennant would not be leaving. Ever.

xxx

The next day the Doctor, Rose and Jack were waiting in the TARDIS for Deb to say one last good bye to Jackie. The Doctor was flipping switches and twisting dials and buttons, watching the read out on the screen. There was a beeping sound, and he pushed one more button, and the central column began to move. A grin spread across his face, as he stepped back and folded his arms, admiring his ship.

"Right," he said, "ready to go!" he sat in the seat, and waited.

"You sure this is going to work?" asked Jack, "we're not going to end up trapped in between dimensions or something are we? 'Cause there are very few girls there…" the Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Yes Jack, I'm sure this is going to work!" just at that point there was a sudden beeping, and the Doctor leaped out of his chair and pressed some buttons, as the beeping died away. "Absolutely fine," he repeated, still fiddling with the buttons. Jack sighed. "Look, we're gonna get there and come straight back, it'll be fine. Admittedly it is probably the most dangerous thing I've ever made the TARDIS do, but it'll be fine…" he trailed off, distractedly fiddling with the buttons on the consol, his mind clearly elsewhere.

"Doctor?" Rose asked after a few seconds. He looked up at her.

"We're going back to before the war. The Time Lords won't have died. I won't be the only one…" he trailed off again, lost in his own world. "That's going to be weird…" the door opened suddenly, and they all looked up. "Deb, hi!" said the Doctor excitedly, "ready to go?"

"Yep!" she ran up to the consol, eagerly waiting.

"Then hold onto something, this could be a bumpy ride…" he pressed some more buttons as the central column began to move faster and louder, and the three passengers all grabbed the nearest rail to them. The Doctor pulled one last lever up, and they were all suddenly thrown to the ground.

He leaped back up again and started attacking the consol with an energy that Rose didn't know he had. They watched in fear from their positions on the ground, as the room shook and creaked around them. Jack managed to pull himself to his feet, despite the fact that the artificial gravity seemed to be working in overdrive.

"It's not going to work!" he shouted over the screeching of the engines.

"Yes it will! Just watch!" the Doctor shouted back happily, surprisingly managing to jump around the consol. "Come on my beautiful ship! Come on!" The TARDIS groaned some more as he pushed it further. Finally there was an all too loud bang, and the TARDIS stopped. The engines died down, and the central column came to a halt. The Doctor looked around himself. "We've landed," he said, "but the question is where!" he ran from behind the consol over to the doors, and went outside.

xxx

By the time Rose and Jack helped a disorientated Deb outside, the Doctor was staring in front of him, standing completely still. Jack left the two women and started to walk over to him. Deb leant against the TARDIS, holding her stomach.

"That can't have been good for the baby…" she complained, taking deep breaths.

"He'll be fine," Rose reassured her, helping her to walk towards the Doctor and Jack.

Jack walked up to the Doctor, looking around, and stopped next to him.

"We're in London," he said cockily, looking at the Doctor. "And unless Gallifrey looks exactly like London, I believe we didn't make it. Told ya," but the Doctor didn't answer, he just kept staring ahead. "Hello? Earth to Doctor?" Jack said, waving his hand in front of the Doctor's face.

"We weren't aiming for Gallifrey," the Doctor said distractedly, "we were aiming for London, 'cause that's where Deb lives…" he trailed off again, then looked at Jack. "We made it," he said quietly, "We're before the war. I can feel them," Jack's eyebrows raised, as he realised what this meant. They'd made it.

"So! Said Rose, walking up to them with Deb slung round her shoulders, "tell me we made it." The Doctor looked at her, and grinned.

"Yeah!" he said happily, as Deb slid off Rose's shoulder, "We made it!" Rose grinned back at hi, and they threw their arms around each other. A second later they parted, and the Doctor turned to Deb, who was smiling at him.

"Thank you!" she said gratefully, "thank you so much!" she too threw her arms around him. This time the Doctor reacted quick enough to hug her back. Rose and Jack looked at each other, shrugged and gave each other a hug too.

Deb pulled away from the Doctor and got her mobile phone out of her pocket. "I should probably give Eta a call, tell him where I am…" just as she lifted it to her ear, a man came running round the corner.

"Deb!" he called. She turned to face him.

"Eta!" she called back happily, running towards him. They met and hugged each other. Jack and Rose watched them smiling, but the doctor could just stare.

"Oh my…" Rose and Jack looked up at him, and suddenly realised.

"Doctor, is that…?" Rose whispered, and he slowly nodded.

"Yeah…" he stared as the two of them parted, and started walking over to them. "Here we go," he muttered. Rose took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, and dropped it a gain just before Deb and Eta reached them.

"Hello!" said Eta with a big arm gesture, "You must be the Doctor!" he took his hand and shook it, then looked at the others. "And you must be Jack and Rose! Nice to meet you," he shook each of their hands too, and Jack had to resist the urge to flirt with him, as he found him surprisingly attractive. "So, are you going to be staying for a bit?" he asked. They both looked to the Doctor, who seemed to be trying to remember how to speak.

"Um… actually, um… I think we'd better be going, otherwise the TARDIS won't be able to get back through…" Eta looked behind them to the TARDIS, frowning.

"Why does it look like _that_?" he asked.

"Hm?" the Doctor looked back at the TARDIS, then back at Eta, "like what?"

"Like a big blue police public call box. I think you're chameleon circuit's broken."

"Ah yes! Yes, it is, it broke years ago, it's stuck like that."

"Why don't you fix it?"

"I rather like it like that." Eta looked at him as if he was crazy, then shrugged.

"Each to his own, I guess," he muttered. He then looked between Rose and Jack.

"I don't want to sound rude, but why are there two humans with you?" he asked.

"Oh, um, I travel with them. Bit outside of the Time Lord rules, I know, then again so is having a baby with another species." Eta laughed slightly nervously.

"Yes, well, I'm sort of hoping they'll be ok with it. I'm quite high up in the government, so they're not exactly going to arrest me for it," the Doctor laughed, and nodded.

"They'll be fine," he said, but only Rose could notice the nervousness in his voice.

"Can I ask you something?" said Eta suddenly. The Doctor shrugged.

"Go ahead."

"I couldn't get through to get Deb myself, there was something stopping me, but my TARDIS didn't know what. Do you know what it was?" Again, the Doctor seemed to be stuck for an answer. Eventually he shook his head.

"Dunno. No idea. Sorry," he said quickly, then looked back to the TARDIS. "Come to think of it, I'd better go see that we can actually get back, if you had trouble getting through, I don't know if I can get back…"

"Ah, yes, I should probably go back and check my TARDIS, I was inside trying to get through when you came through and it said that Deb was on your ship so I went running out to find you, if there were any people around they would have seen me running out of a tree, could look a bit weird. And I'm not entirely sure I shut the door I've probably got loads of humans snooping around the TARDIS right now."

"Better go and check then," said the Doctor, starting to back away to his TARDIS.

"Listen, don't go, ok? I wanna thank yo properly for bringing Deb back-"

"It was nothing, don't worry! We probably have to go anyway, I don't know how long the TARDIS can stay here. Bye!" the Doctor waved, as he started to walk back to the TARDIS.

"Bye!" said Deb and Eta, as they started to walk away, slightly surprised at the Doctor's sudden want to leave. The Doctor almost ran into the TARDIS, and shut the door behind him once Rose and Jack were in.

"That was so weird," he said, then walked up to the consol.

"Why?" asked Rose.

"When I was a kid he was always stressed, it's just weird seeing him so… happy."

"What was his job?"

"He had to investigate and stop any time breaches on other planets and fix them, or something like that. That's why he got sent to Earth, something went wrong. Then he took me back to Gallifrey when I was born so I could be raised there rather then on Earth, but after that all he ever did was work. He never acted _quite _like that," Rose watched him as he worked on the consol, with a hint of pity. She knew what it was like to have parents that didn't pay much attention to you.

"Still, you had Deb," she offered, but for a second he didn't answer. Finally he looked up at her, with a small smile.

"Yeah," he said weakly, then looked down at the consol again. A few seconds passed before a series of beeps filled the room. "Ah, there we go," said the Doctor, "Ready to go back, I believe our work here is done."

"Wait… you're just going to go back? Right now?" Rose asked sceptically.

"Yep," he said quickly.

"Do we _have _to go back right now?"

"Well, no… not exactly _have _to…"

"Well aren't you going to talk to your parents then?"

"Nope," the Doctor didn't look up at her, he just kept looking at the consol, clearly not wanting to talk about it. By now Rose knew better than to push matters that he didn't want to talk about, but when the central column started moving, she couldn't help but go up and stop him.

"You can't just leave!" she shouted, pulling his hands away from the consol. He looked at her, eyes wide. "I mean, you can never get back here again. And even if you don't wanna see your parents… don't you want to see Gallifrey? You're always saying that you wish you could go back, just once… well now you can," he looked at her, his face a mixture of emotions.

"Oh go on," said Jack, his voice cutting through the silence, "I for one have always wanted to see Gallifrey, what's stopping ya?" the Doctor looked at him for a second, then a smile broke out on his face.

"Ok then," he said, running around the consol, "Next stop… Gallifrey!"


	5. Gallifrey

AAAH! I'm a twat. I've had to repost this chapter because I accidentally called Tom Jack an unforgivable number of times, so I just had to change it. Originally I was going to call him Jack ('cause I love the name Jack), but this got too confusing after a while so I changed it to Tom, but for some reason didn't change it for a few paragraps near the end of the chapter. So I'm reposting it again here with the corrections, and if I go and be a bit of a twat again then please tell me. A big thank you to Jillie chan who pointed this out to me. I'll try not to be so stupid next time.

Anyway, for those of you who didn't read this chapter before, here is the original A/N:

Hello again! Thank you for all your lovely reviews for the last chapter, love you all :D and about the David Tennant quitting thing, there's loads on wikipedia if you go to the bottom where it has the sources. Most of them seem to contradict each other, but the most commonly used idea is that he's leaving half way through the 4th series, which makes no sense to me - if you get David Tennent to sigh a contract for a series, why only use him for half ther series? I heard somewhere that he wanted to go on holiday half way through filming, which is highly inconsiderate. Silly David. Oh well, we'll have to wait and see.

On a slightly better David related note, aparently he lives just down the road from me:O I almost died when I heard that. I think I'm going to have to knock on every door in a 1 mile radius of my house waiting for David to answer. Woo :Awaits jealous reviews:

Disclaimer: I don't own David Tennant, but if I manage to hunt him down I'm going to make a hell of a job trying!

xxx

The central column rotated as it went up and down, it could almost be hypnotising if you watched it for too long, like Rose was. She managed to pull her attention back to the Doctor, who was running around the consol with an excitement she had seen since… well, she wasn't sure when. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him so excited.

"Almost there…" he pulled another lever down, and the TARDIS juddered to a halt. The central column stopped, and the sounds of the engines died down. The Doctor stared at the doors for a moment, his eyes wide. He ran across the room and reached them, putting his hands on the handles. He took a deep breath, opened them, and walked outside. Rose and Jack looked at each other, before running out after him.

xxx

Rose's eyes widened as she walked outside, and she looked around herself in awe. Jack was equally as surprised, but did a better job at hiding it.

"Wow," Rose whispered, as her gaze wondered to the sky. The immediate area around looked much like Earth really, they'd materialised in what looked like a normal street, except the buildings seemed to be made out of something other than concrete, something that looked somehow more natural. Along the street were trees, which looked normal in every respect apart from the leaves that were blue. But it wasn't anything in the trees that took their breath away. No, it was the sky.

The sky was a burnt orange with purple, green and yellow streaks. There wasn't a cloud to be seen. The sun burnt brightly in the sky, at least five times as big as Earth's sun. It was amazing. A gentle, warm breeze played with Rose's hair. The air almost seemed to have a sweet smell to it.

"So this is Gallifrey," Jack said after a few moments of silence had passed, feeling slightly stupid for stating the obvious; something he always tried to avoid.

"It's beautiful," said Rose, still looking around in awe. The Doctor had taken her to some beautiful planets, but this one was different – maybe it was because she knew what this planet was. Maybe it was because she knew what would happen to it.

The Doctor walked forward, almost hypnotised. Rose and Jack followed him. He walked round a corner, into an open space. Buildings surrounded it, with the blue-leaved trees around the edge. There was paths leading to the centre, in which was a large fountain. There were a few people walking around, some in groups, some on their own. There were a group of children playing near the fountain.

Rose looked up at the Doctor, who was smiling to himself. "Do you know where we are?" she asked.

"Oh yes!" he laughed, walking forward. They followed him. "I used to live down there," he said, pointing down a road, "there's a school just down there," he pointed down another road. They reached the fountain, and he sat on one of the benches around it. "Weird," he muttered. Rose and Jack sat either side of him.

"So you grew up here," asked Rose, and he nodded.

"Nice place to grow up," noted Jack, "there are lots of nice girls here," he watched a group of women walk past them, a grin on his face.

"Trust you," said the Doctor. Jack looked at him, completely innocently.

"What?" the Doctor just laughed. Another woman walked passed, and looked at them. Jack winked at her. She giggled, and carried on walking. Jack smiled smugly to himself.

"Give it a break," said the Doctor, leaning back, "you'd never stand a chance with anyone here anyway."

"Oh yeah? And why is that?"

"Gallifreyans can sense other Gallifreyans, which means they'll sense that you're not Gallifreyan, and probably wouldn't want to be friends with you let alone anything more. It's highly against Time Lord laws."

"Your parents didn't exactly pay very close attention to the law, did they?"

"Nah not really, it sort of runs in the family. I've broken just about every law the Time Lords ever came up with. Apart from possibly the law against killing yourself in the past. I've never done that."

"Really?" said Rose, "wow, you've done just about everything else in the universe."

"Killing yourself can cause a lot of problems! You should know, I seem to remember you killing both of us, and we all know what happened then," Rose nodded, as she remembered what happened when they went back to see her father. The Doctor leaned back and looked into the sky, and thoughtful look on his face, but he said nothing.

"What's the city called?" asked Rose after a while.

"It's not exactly what you'd call a city, more a village. This place has a total population of 50."

"Is that it?" Jack asked, looking at the Doctor.

"Yeah, this planet has a tiny population, it was about 9 million just before the Time War.

They sat in silence for a while, before Jack finally decided he was getting bored.

"Come on Doc, we're on Gallifrey, don't you wanna go do something? How long have we got here anyway?"

"We can stay here for as long as we want, and yes I do want to go and do something," he stood up and looked at his watch. "Ooh, look at the year, hmm…" he looked at Jack and Rose, "listen, I've got some stuff I need to do… you two go and look around a bit, I'll meet you back here in about… ooh… an hour? Don't get lost, don't cause any paradoxes, don't tell anyone about the Time War and Jack don't sleep with anyone. Ok?" they both nodded, a bit unsure of what else to do, "good, I'll see you later then. Bye!" he started to walk off down the path, and before either of them could say anything, he was gone.

"Well then," said Jack, slapping his knees and standing up, "let's go see what Gallifrey has to offer!"

xxx

55 minutes later, Jack and Rose were sitting on the outskirts of the village looking out on a long, red desert, stuffing what looked like ice-cream in their mouths.

"This stuff is to die for," said Rose, taking another bite from her cone.

"Mm, it is nice, but I've had better," Jack countered, taking another bite of his. He almost choked suddenly as Rose's phone went off. Rose calmly took it out of her pocket and lifted it to her ear, licking her lips.

"Hello?"

"Rose! Hello! I think I got the wrong year… my watch is a bit out… say, about 100 years out… anyway, um, I've kinda been arrested, I don't suppose you could come and help me?" Rose sighed.

"What did you do?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later, listen they're only giving me a minute or so on here so listen up - you need to tell Jack to do a scan for me on his wrist device and come find me, oh and bring some money I think I'm gonna need bail."

"We've just spent all the money we've got on these ice-cream things."

"Oh sorry for assuming you might have kept some. How are you two anyway? Having a good time?" she could hear sarcasm dripping from his voice, but decided to ignore it.

"Yeah, brilliant, I'm fine, Jack's having a choking fit, we're all good. How do we get more money?"

"Go to a cash point, enter the name Eta Sigma, age: 563, security number: 038496."

"038469?"

"Yeah, get out about 1000 zukima, then get over here!"

"Ok ok, calm down. Have fun in jail!"

"Yeah, course."

"Bye!" she hung up, and saved the details into her phone. She stood up and walked past a still choking Jack. "Come on, we've got a Doctor to save."

xxx

"Thanks for helping," Jack said sarcastically, as he programmed his wrist device to find the Doctor.

"You were fine you didn't need my help, who chokes on ice cream anyway?" they walked around a corner, and down an alleyway. "Did you hear what the Doctor said?"

"No I was too busy dying."

"He said he's been arrested because he got the wrong year and we need to get some money and bail him out."

"How do we get any more money?"

"He said to go to a cash point and use his dad's details, which I've got on my phone. What kind of kid knows his dad's bank details?"

"What kind of man can remember them 900 years later?" His wrist device beeped and Jack looked at it. "It's located him, this way," he turned down a road, and Rose followed him.

xxx

They were walking down another road, as more people began to fill the streets. Rose looked up at the sun, which was now much higher in the sky. They'd clearly got there early in the morning.

"How much further?" she complained, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

"Not much further, almost there," they turned another corner, and to the left of them they saw a school. Jack shook his arm. "This thing must be broken," he said, "it says he's in there."

"Great," muttered Rose, folding her arms, "not only is the Doctor in jail but we can't find him." In the school, kids started running out of the doors and into the playground, shouting and laughing. "It's just like on Earth," said Rose, walking up to the metal fence that ran along the road, "he's always complaining about the things that humans do, but we're not that different," she looked around at the kids, some of which were playing games, some were sitting talking, some were eating. She smiled as she saw one kid run to a nearby table followed by his friends and pull a book out of his bag and frantically start writing in it. "Kids here even don't do their homework sometimes," she said. She moved slightly to the left, nearer a group of girls. She could just about hear them talking, something about what they were going to buy in town today, because it was a half day and they were all going shopping. "They even have half days here!" she laughed to herself, and shook her head. "It's all so similar." Jack, who clearly hadn't been listening to a thing she'd been saying, walked up next to her, frowning at his wrist device, which was merrily beeping at him. He looked up at the kids, then back down at his wrist.

"I think I know what's happened," he said.

"What?" Rose asked, looking up at him.

"I told it to locate the Doctor, and it does that by find the nearest person with the same DNA code that I entered into it. That's exactly what it's done, and it just happens that this Doctor is closer than our Doctor."

"What are you on about?" asked Rose. He looked down at her.

"It's found the Doctor that lives here, now. The Doctor as a child," it started beeping again, and Jack looked down, then up. "And there he is." Rose looked where Jack was looking, and saw a boy walking out of the school doors, rubbing his upper arm, looking at the floor. He started to walk across the playground.

"What, the one in the black jumper?"

"Yep."

"That's him as a child?"

"Yep." They watched as he walked around the corner of the building out of sight of most of the other kids, and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. He took a book out of his bag and a pen, and started writing in it. "Not exactly star pupil, was he?" muttered Jack, laughing. They watched as he tried to do the work, but he looked terribly confused. "Doesn't look like he was such a genius as a child." They watched for a few moments, as he tried to do the work, totally oblivious of their presence. "Doesn't he have any friends?" Jack asked after a while, looking around the playground.

"She said he had a lonely childhood," muttered Rose, without taking her eyes off him. Jack looked back at her.

"Who?"

"Madame de Pompadour. He was looking into her mind and she looked into his, and she said that he had a lonely childhood. She was right." Jack nodded, deciding not to ask why the Doctor was looking into her mind. He'd heard snippets of when they met Madame de Pompadour, but it didn't seem to be something either of them wanted to talk about much.

"Maybe she found out what his name was," Jack mused. Rose snorted.

"You'd be surprised at what his name is," she said. Jack looked at her in disbelief, his eyes widening.

"You know what his name is?!" he gasped, turning his body to face her.

"Maybe," she muttered, not looking up at him.

"Well? What is it?" she could tell he was desperate to know, and she looked up with him, a sly smile on her face.

"Not my place to say," she laughed. It was such a rare time that she actually knew more than Jack, and she was going to take it for all it was worth.

"Oh come on," he coaxed.

"No!" she laughed.

"Hey Tom!" they both spun round at the sound of a kid's voice. A group of kids ran towards the Doctor, lead by one kid who walked right up to him and grabbed the work out of his hands. "What you doing, _Tom_?" he started to look through the book, tutting and shaking his head. "Oh come on Tom, imaginary numbers? We did these _years_ ago!"

Jack leaned over to Rose and whispered to her.

"His name's _Tom_?" he hissed.

"Yeah," she whispered back. Jack blinked.

"You're not even getting them right!" The kid mocked, as Tom stood up and tried to grab the book off him.

"Give it back!" he shouted, but was pushed away.

"You can't even get any of these right! You are stupid, you know," the group of kids laughed as Tom tried to get his work back. The kid chucked Tom's book to another boy in the group, who caught it. Tom tried to run to him to get the book back, but he threw it to another kid. All Jack and Rose could do was watch.

"It's exactly like Earth," Rose muttered.

"Some things never change," said Jack.

One of the boys passed the book back to the first boy, who looked at Tom and laughed. He held the book up and ripped it down the middle, then started ripping out the pages.

"Stop it!" Tom begged, tears starting to escape his eyes, "stop it!" the boy threw the shreds of paper in front of him.

"Freak," he said, before walking off. The group followed him, each throwing their own insults at Tom, much along the same lines. All the kids who had been watching were laughing, even a couple of teachers were sniggering to themselves. Tom quickly picked up all the bits of paper and ran back round the corner, where he sat on the ground, and pulled what looked like sellotape out of his bag and tried to tape his book back together.

"That's terrible," whispered Rose, shaking her head. Their attention was taken from Tom to the gates, where the teachers were letting the kids out. They looked back at Tom, who stuffed his shredded book into his bag, which he slung over his shoulder, and began to walk towards the gates. By the time he got there most of the kids had already gone. He walked out and started walking down the almost empty street.

Rose looked up at Jack, who knew instantly what she wanted to do.

"No," he said firmly.

"Ple-"

"No! No no no no no. We've got to go find the Doctor, get him out of jail. We _can't _follow him home Rose."

"But-"

"No. We can't interfere."

"We won't interfere! We'll just… watch," Jack still wasn't convinced. "Oh come on! Since when would you rather care about what the Doctor's told you to do and what you want to do?" She could see he was tempted. It was painfully obvious.

"Rose," he said quietly, "has he ever told you what happened to him as a child?" She thought about what he'd said when she'd asked him. How he'd been so insistent on not telling her anything.

"No," she said quietly.

"And maybe there's a reason for that."

"Come on, how bad can it be?" He looked behind her, as Tom was almost out of sight.

"Oh come on then," he said, and Rose grinned as she walked with him down the road.


	6. Past meets Present

Aparently there were even more errors in the last chapter that I missed again! I don't think that chapter likes me. I'm just going to leave it now, I'm not reposting it again. I've read this chapter through about 5 times now, so if there are any mistakes I may just throw myself out the window. But, knowing me, I'm sure there are mistakes, so please bear with me. Thanks for everyone's lovely reviews.

To be honest, I'm not particularly fond of this chapter, so don't go expecting anything amazing (but don't go away!), I don't think the writing's too good and Rose turns into a right bitch near the end. Oh well, maybe she's on her period and getting all hormonal. Yeah, let's stick with that. But the story starts to get better from here on :D

Disclaimer: I own neither Doctor Who or, as the last chapter would make it appear, a brain.

xxx

Rose and Jack walked down the road, keeping enough distance from Tom so they could still see him, but he didn't notice them. There were buildings on each side of the road, about the same size of an average house on Earth, but the design was quite a lot different. They stopped as Tom turned and walked up a pathway, to what looked like a very big house. He got about half way up the path to the front door, when a man ran out of the front door and straight towards him.

"You're late!" he yelled, "I've got tonnes of work for you to do!" he grabbed Tom by the arm, and pulled him into the house, and slammed the door after them.

"That wasn't Eta was it?" Rose asked Jack, who shook his head.

"He looked nothing like him. I guess he could have regenerated, though," they started to walk forward to the house.

"It's really big," commented Rose, looking up and down the street at the other houses. Jack walked up the path to the front door, where there was a plaque. He frowned as he tried to read it; the TARDIS didn't seem to like translating Gallifreyan.

Rose looked through a window, where she saw a group of kids, who looked about 10 years old. "He must have lots of siblings," she thought out loud. She looked up at the upper floors, and could see bedrooms through some of the windows. The house was three stories high.

She looked back down at Jack who was walking towards her, a grim look on his face. "What is it?" she asked.

"This is a children's home," Jack said, "for orphans." Rose's eyes widened.

"He's an orphan?" she whispered, and Jack nodded solemnly. "What happened to Deb and Eta?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Jack said angrily. He programmed his wrist device. "Come on, we'd better go find the Doctor," he walked past Rose, and down the street. Rose was about to follow him, and took one last look at the building. But something stopped her.

She watched through a window as the man who had ran outside pulled Tom into the room, and threw him to the floor. Her breath caught as the man threw his fist into Tom, repeatedly punching and yelling at him. The group of kids that had been there were laughing. She stumbled backwards and started running for Jack.

"Jack!" she called, catching up with him. He turned to face her. "Oh my god…" she gasped, "oh my god…"

"What? What is it?" she looked up at Jack, tears forming in her eyes.

"Tom… the Doctor… he was… that guy was beating him up!" Rose took deep breaths, and put her hands over her mouth. "It's just like Earth," she whispered, "children are still abused…" she let out a sob, as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "He was abused…" Jack pulled her into a hug as she cried into his jacket.

xxx

Rose and Jack walked dismally down the road, towards what they hoped was the jail containing the Doctor. Rose was distraught. She couldn't believe that had happened to him.

Jack wasn't surprised. He knew that something bad had happened to him as a child, and there were only a few things it could have been. Not that he didn't feel sorry for the Doctor, he just wasn't surprised. But one thing he did want to know was why.

"Rose! Jack!" they spun round suddenly and saw the Doctor walking down an alleyway towards them. Jack frowned and looked at his wrist device. "There you two are! I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been? What took you so long? I was waiting for ages! Lucky for me there was a riot and I managed to escape. Fat lot of good you were! What's wrong?" he seemed to only just notice Rose's red eyes and smudged make up. He looked between them both, utterly confused. Rose choked back a sob, and threw her arms around him. The Doctor looked to Jack for an answer.

"We tried to find you," he explained, "except instead of tracking you," he lifted his arm up and indicated to his wrist device, "it found you as a child." The Doctor stared, as he realised what this meant. Rose pulled away from him.

"What happened to them?" she asked, "you were in a children's home, for orphans. What happened to Eta and Deb?" she watched him through her tears, her vision blurred. He watched her for a second, his mouth slightly open, then looked up at Jack.

"Doesn't matter," he said after a few seconds, then turned and started to walk away. Rose just stared, unbelieving.

"Doesn't matter?!" she choked, "doesn't _matter_? How can it not matter?!" the Doctor just kept walking, not looking back. "Your parents _died _and you're saying that it doesn't matter?!" he spun around suddenly, anger evident in his face.

"No, Rose, it doesn't matter! It doesn't matter because it was years ago! Centuries and centuries ago, so long ago I can hardly even remember it!"

"Don't give me that!" Rose shouted back angrily, walking up to him. "If you can't remember, how did you know your father's bank details? How did you even know them in the first place?? I know this still matters to you, so don't go saying that it doesn't. Now tell me what happened to your parents, what happened to Eta and Deb, or I'll tell them. I'll tell them that their son grew up an orphan, abused by his carers!" It wasn't until Rose said that that she realised what she'd just said, and she instantly regretted it. The Doctor just folded his arms.

"How are you going to tell them that?" he asked.

"They're right behind you," Rose said quietly, and the Doctor spun round. Sure enough, standing behind him were Eta and Deb. His mouth fell open and he just stared in horror.

"Wha…?" he looked between Rose and his parents, who were watching him in disbelief.

"Tom?" Deb whispered, taking a step towards him. He moved away from her.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"We followed you here," answered Eta. He took a step forward and stood next to Deb. "Is it really you?" he asked. The Doctor didn't seem to know what to say. "Son?" Eta whispered. The Doctor suddenly shook his head violently, running back behind Rose towards Jack.

"We should go," he said, "we… we need to go. Now. Before there's a paradox…"

"Is it true?" Deb asked, tears forming in her eyes, "What Rose said, is it true?" The Doctor couldn't seem to speak, and he just stared at her, all the pain in the world evident in his eyes.

"I can't…" he said, his voice shaking, "I-" he watched them for a second, before turning round again. "We've got to go," he said urgently, walking briskly down the road. Rose and Jack looked at Eta and Deb, who were watching the Doctor walk away, then turned to follow him. She couldn't believe this was happening. She'd never wanted anything like this, she didn't know why she'd said those things. She felt terrible, and just wanted to tell the Doctor how sorry she was. She'd been so stupid recently and she didn't know why. She glanced back to Eta and Deb, before quickly turning back round.

Deb choked out a sob, and started to cry. Eta pulled her close to him, as she cried into his chest. The Doctor walked on, not turning back, not daring to look. Rose and Jack followed him, as Eta and Deb watched their son walk away.


	7. Forgiveness

I know that not much happens in this chapter, but it's one of my favourites, probably for the same reason that Boom Town is Russel T Davis's favourite episode. God know's what that reason is, my favourite episode is the Empty Child which is clearly much better. Anyway...

I'll try to get the next chapter up as quickly as possible, but my teachers have been feeling particularly evil recently and I'm bombarded with homework already (I've only been back at school 3 days!), but the more reviews the faster I'll update! Theoretically speaking, at least.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or, as yet, a completed peice of coursework. I really need to own one of them pretty quickly, and I think we all know which one ;)

xxx

The Doctor strode up to the consol, pressing buttons and pulling levers, not looking up. Rose and Jack followed him in, closing the door behind them. They watched the Doctor as he set the coordinates into the TARDIS, and the central column stared to grind up and down. Neither said anything, as the Doctor stood back and looked up at the column. They stood in silence for a few seconds, the grinding of the engines the only sound to be heard.

Suddenly the room shook and sparks flew from the consol. The Doctor leapt forward, his hands running over the controls.

"What's happening?" Rose shouted over the noise, grabbing onto the rails beside her.

"We can't get past the Time War! The TARDIS can't get through…" he attacked the controls frantically, as the shaking stopped and the TARDIS landed. "We'll need to stay here, wait for the TARDIS to charge up." He looked at the readout on the screen.

"Since when did the TARDIS need charging up anyway?" Jack wondered aloud.

"A trip like this, she needs all the power she can get. It can be extracted from the universe, but it takes some time… we're going to be stuck here for a bit," he stepped back from the consol, folding his arms.

"Where is 'here'?" asked Jack.

"We're on a planet, near Gallifrey. It's deserted, but was destroyed at the end of the War. We should be gone long before that happens though," he pressed a few buttons, as more information appeared on the screen. "We'll be here for about two hours before we can go. Till then whatever you do _don't_ go outside, the atmosphere isn't breathable. I'll see if I can make the process any faster, so we're not here for so long." He stood in silence for a few seconds, before walking out the door.

xxx

Jack sat in the control room, thinking. After the Doctor had left the room, Rose had walked out too, leaving him alone. He wondered for a moment if she'd followed him, but he doubted it. She probably just wanted to be on her own right now. They'd argued in a way that he'd never imagined they could, and she'd really hurt his feelings. He'd tried not to show it, but when she'd said, 'their son grew up an orphan, abused by his carers!' it had really hurt him. He knew she didn't mean to say it, but it really hadn't helped the situation. What worried him the most was that the Doctor didn't know what she really thought.

xxx

Rose sat on her bed, clutching her covers, crying to herself. She hadn't meant to say those things to the Doctor, they'd just come out. Now he probably hated her… why had she been so stupid? She should have just stopped when she saw Eta and Deb. Now she didn't know what the Doctor thought of her. She just wanted to tell him she was sorry.

xxx

The Doctor was working in the depths of the TARDIS, trying not to think about the events that had happened in the last day. It had just been too much too fast. Rose knew him too well. She knew when he was lying, but most of all she knew she knew that it still hurt. Everything that happened to him still hurt. 900 years later. He couldn't believe some of the things she'd said, he didn't think she was like that. She was just being hormonal, he told himself. Bloody hormonal teenagers. She wasn't even a teenager anymore. Bloody hormonal human females. He sighed at tried to get on with his work without thinking about it.

xxx

The Doctor walked down a corridor in the TARDIS, trying to get to the kitchen. The TARIDS was being particularly annoying today and was moving the rooms around. She did that sometimes, but usually when he was in a better mood, and really couldn't be bothered with it right now. Every time he opened the door hoping for the kitchen, it was some other room he really didn't want to be in right now.

He slammed another door shut and carried on down the corridor. What he didn't understand was if the TARDIS was trying to get him to go in a certain room, why not just put the room in front of him instead of constantly giving him rooms he didn't want? Probably something to do with the recharging process, not enough energy to do what she wants.

He walked down the corridor, hands in his pockets, past another room. Then he stopped. He could hear something coming from the room he'd just passed. Crying. He spun round and recognised the door instantly. It was Rose's room, and she was crying. He walked up to the door and rested his hand on the handle, waiting a few seconds before opening it.

xxx

Rose looked up from her bed as her door opened. The Doctor poked his head in the room, looking at her with concern. She met his eyes for a second, then looked down, wiping her eyes quickly. He entered the room, slowly walking towards her.

"Rose?" he said quietly. She didn't answer. He sat on the bed next to her, as the mattress sunk under his weight. "What's wrong?" he asked. She sniffed and looked up, but not towards him.

"I just…" she looked down again, fiddling with a tissue in her hands. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have… I'm sorry." He watched her as she wiped the tissue across her eyes, smiling slightly.

"I know," he whispered, putting his arm round her shoulders. "It's ok," she leant into him, and he put his other arm round her. He stroked her hair gently, as she cried into his jacket. "It's ok," and they sat there for what seemed like an eternity, in each other's arms.

xxx

Jack waited impatiently in the control room. The Doctor had said it would take about two hours, and he'd been well over two hours by now. He sighed and stood up, walking restlessly round the room. He would have gone to look for them, only he didn't know where to start.

He spun round suddenly as he heard someone entere the room. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Rose and the Doctor come in, hand in hand. He smiled at them, happy they'd made up.

"It's about time," he said, leaning against the railings.

"Shut up," said the Doctor jokingly, walking up to the consol. He started pressing buttons, and it wasn't until the room suddenly light up more that Jack realised the lights had been dimmed. Probably to save power so they could leave quicker, he guessed. The central column started moving, as the engines powered up.

Suddenly there was a crash, as the consol started beeping frantically. "What_ now_?!" the Doctor yelled angrily.

"There's never a smooth ride with the TARDIS, is there?" Jack muttered to himself. The Doctor read the information on the screen, as his eyes widened in horror.

"What is it?" Rose asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

"They're coming," he whispered, staring at the screen, "we were powered down before and weren't showing up on their radars… but now they've detected us and they're coming."

"Who are coming?" asked Jack. The Doctor looked up at him.

"Daleks."


	8. Captured

Right, now it starts to get interesting! Let's get some action in here, shall we? I promise you do find out about what happened to the Doctor, what happened to his parents and why he was abused etc, but I think we need a bit of action right now. After all, what's Doctor Who without the running from monsters?

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, but I do own what I beleive the Time War to have been like (unless I've subconciously nicked that from somewhere).

BRING ON THE TIME WAR CHAPTERS!

xxx

Jack stared as the Doctor jumped around the TARDIS consol.

"Daleks?!" he repeated.

"Yes, Daleks!" the Doctor shouted back, "We're in the middle of the Time War here, you know. They're coming to kill us."

"Would they come to do anything else?" asked Rose sarcastically. There was another shake, as the TARDIS groaned and creaked.

"They've got us," whispered the Doctor. "They're taking us back to their ship. To extract information," he looked around at the room. The lights were flickering, and sparks came from the consol.

"But can't we just, you know, dematerialise?" asked Rose. The Doctor shook his head.

"During the War the Daleks evolved until their technology was matching that of the Time Lords. They know exactly how a TARDIS works, and can disengage it. We're stuck."

"But they can't get in, right?" asked Rose, "We're safe in here, aren't we?"

"They can't get in, no, but that doesn't mean they can't blow us up," he looked at Rose, raising his eyebrows. "Not much destroys a TARDIS, but the Daleks know what does." A solemn moment passed.

"So what do we do?" asked Jack. "We can't kill the Daleks, that would cause a paradox."

"Unless we were supposed to kill them," the Doctor speculated.

"And are we supposed to kill them?"

"Probably not."

"Great." Another moment passed. "Still doesn't answer my 'what do we do' question."

"Well, there are two options," said the Doctor, walking round the consol, "option one – find a way out and escape. Option two – die."

"I'll take option one thanks," said Rose.

"Yeah, me too. But how do we do that?"

"You're the genius, you know all about the Time War. You tell us," said Jack.

"We need to infiltrate their ship," he went to the controls and looked at the screen as it displayed information on the ship the Daleks were taking them to, "find the machine holding the TARDIS and destroy it. No Daleks die, no paradox, and we escape. Back to our universe." He stood back, watching the screen.

"Great, we can do that," said Rose, smiling.

"You're not coming," said the Doctor. Rose and Jack looked at him in disbelief. He didn't take his eyes off the screen.

"Excuse me?" whispered Rose.

"You're not coming," he repeated, looking up at her this time. He walked around the room and grabbed his coat from one of the coral pillars. "Jack, up to you. Coming?"

"Oh I see!" shouted Rose angrily, "so Jack gets to come, but not me!"

"Yep, pretty much," said the Doctor calmly, heading back to the screen and bending down to look at it. He looked up at her and saw the distraught, confused look on her face, and started to walk towards her. "This is the Time War, Rose. You've seen a lot of stuff with me, but nothing like this. Normally I'd say you can come, sure, but not now. Sorry," he headed for the door, and the TARDIS shook as it landed. Rose just stared after him.

"Why not?" she asked desperately. "Why can't I come?" he turned back to her.

"I'm not going to let you see this. It's… too much."

"Oh what, so you want to protect me? I'm not some little kid, Doctor."

"You're not a Time Lord either."

"Neither is Jack!"

"Jack…" he looked round at Jack, pointing at him, "Jack is… Jack's fine. Besides he can't die," The Doctor turned back to the door. "I hope," he muttered under his breath. Rose shook her head and ran up to him.

"Doctor don't go, please," she said, grabbing his hand. He turned back to her.

"Rose, I'll be fine. Promise," they watched each other for a second, as Rose's eyes shone with tears.

"You sure I can't come?" she asked one last time. The Doctor nodded.

"It's too dangerous," he whispered, "you mean too much to me," he smiled at her, then turned away and headed out the door, followed by Jack. Rose watched them leave, a mixture of emotions filling her mind. Then she ran up to the consol and turned on the surveillance camera.

xxx

Jack and the Doctor stepped outside the TARDIS, and were greeted by rows of Daleks in front of them. Jack looked around at the dark grey structure, with Daleks flying above them, in and out through corridors. The Doctor got a terrifying sense of déjà vu.

One Dalek began to move towards them. It was black; the leader.

"You are the Doctor!" It said, it's metalic voice ringing through their heads.

"Me? The Doctor? No I'm not!" he said, sounding completely innocent. There seemed to be a pause as the Daleks doublechecked their readings.

"Sensors report you are the Doctor," the black one said.

"I suppose if you think I'm the Doctor you'd say he wasn't a Time Lord," he indicated to Jack. The Daleks' eyestalks swung round to Jack.

"The male is not Time Lord!" the black Dalek announced.

"Oh really? Well your sensors must be broken then. Why would a non-Time Lord be here?" the Daleks seemed to double check their findings again. Jack leaned over to the Doctor.

"Why don't you want them to think you're the Doctor?" he whispered.

"Because at this point in the War I'm a massive risk to them, and they'd kill me on the spot if they knew I was the Doctor. Forget getting information out of me, I'd be a gonner. But any other Time Lord they'd keep alive to extract information off." Jack nodded and leant away again.

"The male is human," said the black Dalek, gliding forward, "he is no use to us, he will be exterminated!"

"Go on then," said the Doctor.

"Oh thanks," muttered Jack.

"Exterminate!" the laser hit Jack, and he flew back and hit the TARDIS doors, then slumped on the ground. The Doctor winced. That looked painful.

A second later, Jack eyes opened again as he gasped for breath. The Daleks looked at him, and if it was possible for a Dalek to look surprised, this is what they did. The Doctor took this opportunity and ran from the TARDIS through a gap in the Daleks towards what looked like a control unit.

"Alert! Alert! The Doctor is escaping!" the Daleks said in chorus, as they turned to him.

"I'm not the Doctor!" he yelled back, as he reached the control unit, sonic screwdriver already in hand, and held the screwdriver against it.

"Exterminate!!" Lasers flew towards the Doctor, but were stopped by something. The Doctor looked down at the control unit, grinning.

"Find the function that exerts a ball of energy exactly the same as that of a Dalek ray gun and reverse it, and what do you get? A barrier against Dalek ray guns! Brilliant!" He held the sonic screwdriver against the consol again, tweaking the pitch slightly. "Find the function that exerts a _wave_ of energy exactly the same as that of a Dalek ray gun and reverse it, and what do you get?" There was suddenly a boom as what appeared to be a gust of wind swept through the ship. "A wave of energy that reverses Dalek ray guns! HA!" he looked around with a grin as the Daleks looked down at their guns, when instead shooting a laser, all they did was click.

The Doctor ran from the control unit towards Jack. "Come on, that won't last long," he said, pulling Jack up to his feet. "This way!" he ran off through the Daleks again, leading the way as Jack followed him.

"The Doctor must not escape!" the black Dalek said, as the Daleks turned to face the two men.

"You still think I'm the Doctor," he said back, as they came to some grating in the floor. The Daleks started to glide after them, holding their plungers out. The Doctor whirred the sonic screwdriver at the grating and pulled it away, revealing a hole just big enough for the Doctor and Jack to fit through. "I think this is right," he muttered, before sitting on the edge of the hole, and jumping down. Jack watched him fall into the darkness, as the Daleks came closer. He took a deep breath, and jumped down after the Doctor.


	9. Escape Attempt

Hm, I don't seem to have anything to say here. Weird. So, uh... on with the story, I guess.

Disclaimer: Here are two statements: 'I own Doctor Who.' 'David Tennant is ugly.' What's the similarity? Neither of them is true.

xxx

The Doctor fell onto a large pile of wires, and instantly jumped up and looked around. A second later Jack fell onto the same pile of wires, and also jumped up.

"Where are we?" he asked, stumbling slightly.

"In one of the control rooms," the Doctor answered, scanning the equipment. He walked up to a computer and looked at the controls. "I think this is it," he muttered, once again pulling the screwdriver out and holding against the machine. There was a spark then a bang, as the inside of the machine exploded. "There we go," he put the screwdriver back inside his jacket and started to walk away as smoke began to float from the computer. The Doctor stood on the pile of wires and looked up the hole they'd just fallen through. "I don't think we're going to get back up there," he said.

"So we need to go the long way round," said Jack, heading for the door.

"Indeed we do," the Doctor jumped off the pile of wires and joined Jack by the door. He held the screwdriver against the control panel by the door, and it clicked open. "You first," he said to Jack.

"Why me?" he asked, insulted.

"Because if there are Daleks out there and they exterminate you you'll just come back to life."

"Same thing happens with you."

"Not when it comes to Daleks. A Time Lord can't regenerate after being hit by a Dalek ray gun. Now come on you, out," Jack sighed and gingerly stepped out of the door.

He looked up the corridor that greeted him, then started walking down it. The Doctor came out a few seconds after and followed him down the corridor. "It won't be long before they find us down here, so we'd better hurry up," whispered the Doctor. Jack nodded and started to run.

They didn't get very far undetected, as when they turned a corner they were greeted by a group of Daleks.

"Exterminate!" they shouted, gliding down the corridor. Jack and the Doctor quickly spun round and dashed down the corridor, back the way they came. The Doctor grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him down another route, away from where they'd been before.

"Do you know where you're going?!" Jack shouted.

"No idea!" The Doctor shouted back. He pulled Jack down another corridor, then stopped and held the sonic screwdriver against a door and pulled Jack through it.

The door closed behind them, as they both gasped for breath. The Doctor quickly recovered, and started to walk towards the other end of the room. Jack, still gasping for breath, began to look around himself.

"Where are we now?" he asked, looking at the computers in front of him. "Another control room?"

"Observation deck," the Doctor said numbly. Jack spun round to face the Doctor, who was standing in front of a massive window covering the far wall. He slowly walked up next to him, staring out the window.

Outside was millions and millions of ships; two massive fleets. On one side, the Dalek ships, on the other, the Time Lords. Some ships were moving, some were still. The odd ship was on fire, burning. There were explosions as ships were destroyed. Armies of Daleks flew through space, as smaller ships flew above them, each shooting at each other. In the corner of the window was a planet, the surface scorched by fire, devastated by the war. In the few empty spaces in the sky burnt massive orange and gold balls of energy; wisps of light cutting through the black sky.

Jack looked at the Doctor, who was staring out the window, numb. "I never thought I'd have to see this again," he whispered, as he closed his eyes and looked down, silently mourning what he knew was going to happen.

Suddenly he spun round and ran towards one of the computers, screwdriver ready. The screen flicked on, displaying a map of the ship. Jack looked from him back to the window, mesmerised by the sight before him. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. He looked down at the planet. There were fleets of Daleks and ships heading down towards it, as other ships tried to defend it.

He was about to walk away and join the Doctor at the computer, when the sky seemed to be slashed, as a massive rip appearing in the blackness, light pouring out of the bright, orange cut. Then came fleets of Dalek ships, flooding out of the rip.

"What the hell?" he whispered, staring. The Doctor looked up.

"That's the vortex," he explained, looking at the rip in the sky, "all the bits of orange, it's the time vortex. The Daleks used a new method of time travel, they would literally rip from the forth dimension into the third, leaving a tear, a hole in the fabric of reality, between space and the vortex. It meant that the Time Lords couldn't see when they were coming or predict what they were going to do, but was destroying the vortex, rupturing it, and in turn weakening the Time Lords," he turned back to the computer, scanning the map in front of him. Jack couldn't stop watching the window.

The Doctor moved from the computer and joined Jack, watching the war outside. After a few seconds, some of the Time Lord ships began to move apart and leave a space. The Dalek ships that were around that point started to move away, as energy seemed to build up in the space that had been created. The Doctor looked at his watch, then around the room.

"What are you doing?" asked Jack, looking at the Doctor.

"They're creating a black hole… I think this ship is safe, one of the ones that doesn't get pulled in this time…" he stopped looking around the room, then looked back outside. "Time Lords created black holes, so the black hole didn't effect their ships. But it did suck the Dalek ships in," they watched as the energy created in the space began to glow a bright, white light. The light got smaller and smaller, until it disappeared altogether. "Here it comes," whispered the Doctor. Where the light was, all stars and light around it seemed to disappear, as the space became completely black. There were wisps of light as it got pulled into the black hole. Within a matter of seconds, the hole was almost the size of one of the Time Lord ships, as bits of debris were getting pulled into it. The Daleks ships that were previously going away from that point were beginning to get sucked into it. The hole grew larger as single Daleks, then larger ships were sucked in.

The floor below them suddenly shook and there was a lurch in the noise of the engines. The pair looked around anxiously.

"We're not going to get sucked in, are we?" Jack asked nervously.

"Like I said, I think we're safe. But we'd probably better be going just in case," he turned and headed for the door. Jack just kept watching the window, as he heard the door open behind him. "Coming?" the Doctor asked, after poking his head out to check for Daleks. Jack just kept staring out the window. The Doctor walked up to him, hands in his pockets. "It's lucky that's happening, it'll distract the Daleks so we can get back to the TARDIS easier. But we do kinda have to go now," he looked at Jack.

"Was it always like this?" he asked, still looking out the window. The Doctor looked out too.

"Pretty much," he said, "it got worse, but most of the time…"

"Worse?" Jack gasped in disbelief, "how did it get worse?" the Doctor looked back out the window, thoughtfully.

"Well, it's hard to explain really…" he trailed off, lost in his own thought. "The last battle, that was the worst," he looked over at Jack, who was staring out the window again. He moved slightly closer to him, lowering his voice. "Imagine," he said, putting his arm out, "imagine more ships, so many more that there seems to be more ships than stars," he leaned in closer, dropping his voice even quieter, "now imagine them all on fire. Every single ship, burning, everyone dying and screaming, every person, every Dalek. Now imagine they're not Time Lords, but humans, your own people, your own species, and they're all dying, and you're the only one left." He lowered his voice so far that it was just a whisper, "imagine them all dying. Now imagine you're the one that killed them." He turned and headed for the door, leaving Jack staring out the window, lost in his own thoughts.

xxx

The Doctor ran down the corridor, followed by Jack when he finally decided to leave the room. Once again they didn't get very far before they were encountered by Daleks. They quickly ran back on themselves, and once again the Doctor pulled Jack into a nearby room.

"This isn't going very well, is it?" said Jack, leaning against a wall, looking at the room. He couldn't see much; the light wasn't on.

"Not exactly, no," muttered the Doctor, looking around. "We'll need to find a way up there without getting noticed; we need to get there in a way the Dalek's can't."

"Suggestions?"

"Like through ventilation shafts or air ducts or something, like how we got down here. Except that could be awkward, since I haven't seen any in the last few rooms I've been in," he looked at a computer sitting at the side of the room, walked over to it and pressed a button. Lights flickered on, as the two looked around the room. "Uh oh," said the Doctor. Jack looked at him.

"What now?"

"This isn't a good room to be in," he looked around himself. Jack headed for the door.

"Let's go then," he said.

"We can't we'll get exterminated."

"Good point," Jack stopped and leant against the wall again. "So what is this room?"

"It's where the Daleks take prisoners. There are sensors that detect exactly what's happening to a Time Lord's body, it allows them to see if the person is telling the truth or not."

"Oh great," muttered Jack. The Doctor wondered over to a screen at the end of the room and used the sonic screwdriver to turn it on. He searched through a few channels, until he came to one he wanted. Jack walked towards the screen to see what the Doctor was doing. The Doctor stood back. On the screen was the room where the TARDIS was, an aerial view of it, as if from a security camera. There were Daleks flying round, shouting commands at each other. After a few seconds they calmed down.

"Black hole threat irrelevant," said the black Dalek, "Find the Time Lords," more Daleks flew from the room through corridors. They watched for a few seconds, until the Daleks suddenly stopped flying. The black Dalek began to elevate. "The Time Lords have been located!" it announced.

"Brilliant," the Doctor said sarcastically. The Daleks suddenly turned towards the TARDIS.

"Human female detected in TARDIS!" the black one said. The Doctor's breath caught. "She is of no use to the Daleks. She will be exterminated!" the Doctor's eyes widened.

"No!" he shouted at the screen, even though he knew it would do no good.

"But they can't get to her, can they?" asked Jack, "Isn't she safe in the TARDIS?" the Doctor shook his head.

"They can destroy the TARDIS, with her in it. Rose…" he watched in horror as Daleks began to surround the TARDIS.

"It is known that the Doctor travels with beings other than Time Lords, including humans. The Time Lord is the Doctor! Exterminate the Doctor!" the Doctor and Jack suddenly spun round as they heard massive bangs against the door. They watched the door as the Daleks outside tried to get in. The Doctor looked back at the screen as the Daleks started shooting at the TARDIS. He had to save Rose, but he had no idea how. She was going to die. They were going to kill her. And all he could do was watch.

"Rose…"


	10. Exterminate!

I know this is quite a short chapter, but the next one will be much longer :) Happy reading and, oh yeah, please review!

Disclaimer: I am Russel T Davies and I own Doctor Who. What? I'm not Russel T Davies? Oh ok, I guess I don't own Doctor Who then. Damn.

xxx

Suddenly the Daleks circling the TARDIS stopped. The sound of the guns stopped, as did the banging on the door behind the Doctor and Jack. They looked at each other in surprise.

"The Doctor's increased heart beat and adrenaline suggests he is emotionally attached to the human female," the black Dalek said. It elevated higher, and looked at the security camera, straight at the Doctor and Jack. "The Doctor will tell the female to exit the TARDIS or she will die!" the Doctor watched the screen nervously, and Jack watched him. After a few seconds, he reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out.

xxx

Rose slowly opened her eyes, and released her grip from the chair. She looked around, wide-eyed, amazed that she was still alive. The Daleks had found her and were about to kill her… so why had they stopped?

She almost fell off the chair when her phone suddenly started ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket, pressed a button and held it to her ear.

"Rose!" came the Doctor's relieved voice down the phone. "Are you ok?"

"Only just!" she gasped, sitting back on the seat. "Where are you?"

"Doesn't matter, listen, you need to go outside the TARDIS."

"What!? Are you crazy? I'll get killed!"

"You're more likely to get killed if you don't, trust me," she looked up at the door, getting increasingly nervous by the second.

"Ok," she said quietly, standing up and heading for the door.

"Stay on the phone," the Doctor said, as she walked across the room. Gingerly, she put her hand on the handle and opened the door.

xxx

The Doctor held his breath as he watched Rose step out of the TARDIS.

"Oh my God…" she whispered, as she looked out on the rows of Daleks in front of her.

"You will tell us the Time Lords' plans, or the female will be exterminated!" said the black Dalek. The Doctor squeezed the phone nervously.

"I don't know their plans," he said eventually, "I was exiled for previous crimes, they left me on that planet and disabled my TARDIS. I don't know what they're planning," he paused as he waited for the Dalek's answer. By now the Daleks had connected the phone signals to the speakers in the ship, so his voice was heard by all Daleks. "They forced me to regenerate," he added. The Daleks seemed to reluctantly believe this, but it made sense.

"Who are the humans?" the Dalek asked.

"Oh… these two? They're a couple of friends of mine, in fact I brought them to the war accidentally and the Time Lords found out and that's why they exiled me, since a Time Lord isn't meant to travel with another species. So, yeah. Can't help you! Sorry," they could almost sense the Dalek's disappointment.

"Then you will be exterminated!" there was an explosion behind the Doctor and Jack and they spun around to see Daleks flooding into the room. They watched with wide eyes as the Daleks flew towards them.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted, throwing himself towards the side of the room. Jack ran after him, as the Doctor skidded on the floor towards a grating in the corner of the room, like the one they went down before. He pointed the sonic screwdriver at it and pulled the grating off, throwing it away. Then he jumped down the hole, and Jack jumped after him. As they fell, they heard yells of 'exterminate!' behind them, echoing down the hole.

Then came shot after shot as the Daleks shot down the hole trying to get them. The Doctor instinctively curled into a ball as each laser hit Jack instead of him. He looked down the hole, daring to move his hands from his face, at the light that was rapidly heading towards him.

xxx

"The Doctor has escaped," one of the Daleks informed the black Dalek.

"He must be located and exterminated," the Dalek turned to Rose, who was standing outside the TARDIS shaking. "Exterminate the female," it said, before elevating away. The Daleks turned to face Rose, and began gliding towards her.

xxx

The Doctor landed awkwardly on the ground, no pile of wires to break his fall this time. He groaned as he began to sit up, only to have Jack crash on him a second later.

Jack's body rolled off, leaving a flattened Doctor on the floor. He groaned again as he forced his eyes opened, and tried to focus on the grey blurs around him. He vaguely heard a sudden gasp of breath somewhere next to him.

Next thing he knew there was a Jack shaped blur over him, and a Jack sounding voice saying his name repeatedly.

"Muh?" he groaned.

"Doctor, snap out of it! Sit up! Do something!" he instantly did as he was told, and threw his body upwards. The world swam around his head for a second, then settled down again.

"You're bloody heavy," he moaned as he tried to get to his feet. They spun round as the door behind them started to open, and the Doctor snapped back to reality. He looked around the room quickly. "Ha!" he exclaimed, pulling Jack into one of the many small cubicles that were covering the walls of the room, "Teleport! Brilliant!" he held the sonic screwdriver against the control panel, and the world melted away from them just as the Daleks burst into the room.

xxx

The world suddenly melted into view again for the Doctor and Jack, except this time they were in the room with the TARDIS, surrounded by Daleks yelling various things, mostly along the lines of 'exterminate the doctor'. They both started running towards the TARDIS, as Daleks started to shoot at them. The Doctor skidded to the front of the TARDIS, but stopped almost instantly.

"Doctor!" Rose screamed, as she tried to run to him from the Daleks that were surrounding her.

"Rose!" he yelled back, breaking out into a run again, reaching his hand out towards her.

"Exterminate!" the cold metallic voice echoed through the Doctor's head as the laser bolt hit Rose, and her body slumped to the floor.


	11. Old Friends

Rose is dead!

The sounded familiar, and it probably was for anyone who's read Powers You Never Knew You Had. I need to come up with more original story lines...

This chapter's for Scout Girl, who asked for this to happen in her second review, so I changed the story just so that this did happen. And it works surprisingly well. Hope you like it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or David Tennant, and after the scary dream I had about him last night, I'm not sure I want to own him.

xxx

All the Doctor could do was stare as Rose's body hit the floor. The world seemed to melt away from around him, the Daleks' screams suddenly disappearing. He stared numbly as she lay on the floor, completely motionless. The universe seemed to pass by him as he walked towards her body, completely hollow. As he reached her, he fell to his knees, hesitantly reaching out to her, and placing a loving hand on her cheek. Slowly, he put his arms round her body and lifter her up, holding her gently against him. He closed his eyes as he held her dead body.

Then something happened which he never would have expected. Her eyes suddenly snapped open and she gasped for breath. He stared in amazement, before being filled with an indescribable amount of relief and happiness. So much so that the curiosity hadn't kicked in yet.

He rested her body on his lap. Her eyes flicked around the room, her body shaking. Her eyes snapped closed again, as she cried out in pain.

"Doctor!" he looked up suddenly at Jack above him, who was trying to fend off the Daleks with the gun he carried around with him at all times, and not doing very well at it. "Get in the TARDIS!" The Doctor instantly did as he was told, scooping Rose up into his arms and throwing himself through the open doors.

Jack followed him through a few seconds later, slamming the doors behind him. The Doctor ran past the consol, kicking a lever up and hitting a button with his elbow. The room shook as the ship took flight, the cries of 'exterminate' and the sounds of lasers hitting the outside walls gently melting away. Wasting no time, the Doctor ran through the door at the back of the room and started to head straight for the med bay, closely followed by Jack.

Once in the med bay, the Doctor ran to the nearest bed and gently laid Rose on it. She was coughing and spluttering, as tears ran from her eyes. She began to curl into a ball, holding her shaking hands near her face.

The Doctor quickly ran across the room and flung open a cupboard door, and began searching through the small jars inside it. He pulled one out, then pulled open a draw and pulled out a syringe. With amazing speed and accuracy, he stuck the needle through the top of the jar and extracted some of the see-through liquid. He then dropped the jar onto the nearest surface and ran over to Rose. Ever so gently, he moved the hair from her neck and pulled away her hand, then carefully injected the substance into her.

Her cries quietened as the shaking subsided, and her body went limp as she fell unconscious. Jack looked up at him with a confused look, as he went across the room and replaced the small jar and began to clean the syringe.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"Administered a general anaesthetic," he said quickly, before walking back up to Rose. He gently rolled her onto her back, and moved the hair from her face.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't she get hit by a Dalek?" asked Jack.

"Yep," the Doctor replied, pulling out his sonic screwdriver from his jacket.

"So… shouldn't she be dead?"

"Yep," the Doctor ran the screwdriver up and down her body as it whirred away.

"So why isn't she?"

"No idea," he lifted the screwdriver up, changed the setting, then ran it up and down her body again. Slowly, a smile began to play on his lips.

"So?" asked Jack, watching impatiently as the Doctor grinned to himself.

"She's not dead because the Dalek's guns hadn't properly recharged yet. She's been wounded. Really badly wounded, she's paralysed and her body's in shock… but not dead," he flashed Jack a quick grin, before looking back down at Rose. "She needs a lot of rest in order to recover, which should be fine. The TARDIS is going to need rest after that, and I'm probably going to end up needing to fix something. Then I'll make sure we get back _properly_," he smiled slightly, as he watched Rose. He rested a hand on her cheek, then brushed away some of the hair still on her face.

Suddenly he was nearly knocked over as the TARDIS shook. He and Jack both looked around frantically, as if searching for an explanation. There was another sudden explosion, knocking them both off their feet. The Doctor instantly jumped up again, and ran out of the room, quickly followed by Jack.

xxx

Bursting into the consol room, the Doctor stumbled over to the controls as the floor danced beneath him. Jack stumbled in after him. The Doctor glanced up to Jack, then looked back at the consol. "Stay with Rose!" he shouted over the noise. Jack started to turn back, when he was suddenly thrown away from the door. The Doctor clung onto the consol as his feet slipped out from beneath him, and quickly pulled himself back up again. The room shook and creaked as if bombs were going off outside.

Jack tried to pull himself to his feet again, but didn't get very far before he was knocked to the floor again. The Doctor seemed much more in control, jumping around the consol, madly attacking the controls. He tried to read the information on the screen as it shook in front of him, the symbols turning into blurs. Sparks began to fly from the conrols, as the TARDIS span out of control.

"I've got to land!" the Doctor shouted, more to himself than Jack, as he hit every button on the consol, somehow managing to stay balanced despite the frenzy around him. After a few seconds, the shaking began to subside, as the engines stopped moving.

Jack and the Doctor took deep breaths, staring around themselves as sparks fell from the ceiling. The Doctor looked at the consol in pity. "Oh my poor ship," he muttered, stroking the side. "Go and check on Rose," he said to a dazed Jack, before adjusting the screen.

Jack stood up, swaying slightly. He rubbed the side of his head that he'd hit when he'd fallen over, and started to make his way to the door. He didn't get half way across the room before Rose wakled in, holding her head.

"What happened?" she asked, sounding as if she had the biggest hangover in the universe. The Doctor's eyes shot up at her, blinking.

"What?" he whispered, walking over to her. "How come you're awake so fast?"

"Huh?" she watched him as he walked in front of her, frowning.

"You should still be unconcious," he said.

"What happened to me?" she groaned. He looked at her, a solumn expression on his face.

"You were shot by a Dalek," he said in a low voice, "but they hadn't powered up fully since I disabled their guns," he watched her for a second, and she couldn't help but think his eyes were shining more than usual. "I thought I'd lost you," he whispered. They stood in silence for a few seconds, before Rose smiled.

"I told you before, you ain't losing me that easily," she joked, and he smiled back. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she put hers round his neck. She laughed as he lifted her off the ground, squeezing her tightly. He put her back on the ground, still grinning.

"Right!" he said, running back up to the consol, "what happened to the TARDIS and why are you awake?"

"What's wrong with me being awake?" Rose protested.

"You're meant to be asleep for another few hours," he said, pressing buttons until the consol beeped. "Ah," he said, "we went through a time warp, it disrupts TARDISs, caused by the Daleks misusing the time vortex. It changes the passing of time in different rooms, and only the control room stays with the same time as the outside universe. The med bay went into fast forward," he started pressing some more buttons, "we got caught in an eddie in time, which messed up the TARDIS a bit. We're still in the Time Wa-"

"Doctor!" a female voice came from the door, which they all instantly looked up at. "Doctor get out here! They're coming!" Jack and Rose looked at him, and he remained looking at the door, wide eyed.

"It can't be…." He whispered, not taking his eyes off the door.

"Doctor! What are you doing?" the voice started to sound desperate. "Doctor!"

He suddenly ran forward towards the door, and opened it.

xxx

The Doctor stopped in the doorway, staring at the woman in front of him. She glanced up at him.

"Oh great you've regenerated," she said, cocking a rather large gun, "what happened?" all he could do was stare. She looked up at him. "You ok?" she asked, still fiddling with the gun. "Look stop staring at me like that and help!" She put the gun down and walked across the room and picked up another one, and started to walk back to him. By this point, Jack and Rose and joined him in the doorway. She stopped dead still, and stared at them.

"What are non-Time Lords doing in your TARDIS?" she asked cautiously. "Who are they?" the Doctor remained silent. She dropped the gun to her side. "You _are_ the Doctor, aren't you?" she asked, frowning. She shook her head a couple of seconds later. "Well of course you are, only the Doctor would let humans onto a TARDIS." She walked up to him and dropped the gun in his arms, and he awkwardly caught it. "Who are they then?" she asked, but he still didn't answer. "What's wrong with him?" she asked, turning to face Jack, who walked suavely out of the TARDIS.

"He's just a little tongue tied," he said casually, taking her hand. He'd always liked blondes. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness," he said, placing a kiss on the top of her hand. She looked at him in disgust. "What's your name?" She snatched her hand back from him.

"Romanadvoratrelundar," she said, walking away from Jack.

"That's almost as bad as Raxacoricofallapatorius," Jack muttered.

"You might as well call me Romana," she said, "the Doctor does." She grabbed another gun and handed it to Jack. "Now if you have to be here then make yourself useful. Know how to use one of these?"

"I'm sure I'll figure it out," he said, inspecting the large gun now in his hands.

"Right, the Daleks are on their way up," she informed, looking at a computer, "they'll be here any minute now." The Doctor suddenly sprang into action, jumping out of the TARDIS and cocking the gun in his hands.

"Rose, get inside the TARDIS," he ordered. Romana looked at him with wide eyes.

"He speaks!" she said sarcastically.

"Eventually," he said, "nice to see you again Romana," he lifted the gun and put the back on the top of his shoulder. Jack did the same. "Rose, TARDIS," he said again.

"But-"

"NOW!" they all lifted their guns into position, pointing at the door. Rose watched for a second, before doing as she was told. She quickly ran up to the monitor and activated the surveillance camera.

Outside Jack, the Doctor and Romana waited anxiosly for the Daleks to come in. They could hear them outside now, and it was only a matter of seconds before they'd be found. Jack had no idea what the guns did, or if he was even holding it right; so far he'd just copied the other two.

Then the door started to buldge as massive bangs hit it.

"Here they come," Romana said, as they all tightened their grip on the guns. Then the Daleks burst through the door, as they began to fill the small room.

Half a second later the room was filled with white light and a deafening noise as the Doctor, Romana and Jack pulled their triggers.


	12. Revelations

I've got so much homework, it absolutally sucks. Right now I've got massive amounts for tomorrow, half of which I don't understand (which I should probably be doing right now) so don't go expecting another chapter too soon. But as always, more reviews means faster chapters ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Jack was thrown backwards by the force of his gun, and smashed into the table behind him. The Doctor and Romana stayed surprisingly still, as small balls of electricity flew from the end of their guns. Jack stood up again, and shot out at a Dalek above him. The ball attached to the Dalek's casing, as blue bolts surrounded its body. The ball then exploded, taking the Dalek with it. Jack spun round to the ever-increasing amount of Daleks flooding into the room, and began to shoot.

After what seemed like an eternity of non-stop shooting, the flow of Daleks into the room stopped. The Doctor and Romana lowered their guns and quickly ran across the room, Romana to the nearby computer and the Doctor to the door. Jack stood, swaying slightly, with his head spinning. There was a ringing in his ears and his sight seemed to be nothing but white nothingness. He closed his eyes hard, and opened them again to see a very over-exposed Doctor standing in front of him.

"You get used to it," he said, taking the gun from Jack's shoulder and replacing it in the gun holder. He walked next to Romana and looked at the computer.

Rose slowly opened the door, and looked around the room at the shattered remains of the Daleks. There were broken scraps of the casing everywhere, and even bits of wires from inside the Dalek, and Rose could see a few of the actual Dalek creatures; their bodies ripped into bits and splattered round the room. Even if it was Daleks, it was still rather gruesome.

"There's still some on the lower floors," Romana said urgently, grabbing a gun and starting to walk to the door. The Doctor stood still, not following her. She seemed to notice this, and spun round when she reached the door. "Coming?" she said, more a statement saying 'get your arse over here' than a question.

"No," the Doctor said simply, heading back to the TARDIS. Romana stared at him.

"What?" she gasped. He turned to face her.

"I'm not your Doctor," he said. She frowned at him, not understanding.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, shaking her head.

"I'm from the future," he said, "after the War. I landed here by accident while travelling with Jack and Rose. That's why they're here." Her eyes began to widen with realization.

"So… we win?" she whispered, almost not believing it. He didn't answer, he just walked into the TARDIS. Jack watched the Doctor walk in, then took one last look at Romana before following the Doctor in.

At least, he almost followed the Doctor in.

"Look out!" he yelled, pointing behind Romana. She spun around and ducked, as a Dalek flew up behind her. A laser bolt flew inches above her head, straight into Jack.

She watched in horror as he fell back when the bolt hit him, and collapsed on the floor. The Doctor ran out, as the Dalek flew into the room over Romana.

"Exterminate!" it shouted, spinning around to face her. "President Romana must be exterminated!" she struggled with her gun, trying to point it up to the Dalek. "Exterminate!" its gun pointed towards her and she knew she wouldn't be able to shoot it in time.

A ball of electricity suddenly attached itself to the bottom of the Dalek's casing, followed by two more, which quickly exploded, sending bits of Dalek flying over the room.

Taking a few deep breaths, she looked over at Doctor, who was pointing a gun to the ceiling. He then lowered the gun and put it on a table.

"So much for my dramatic exit," he muttered, then started to head back for the TARDIS.

"But… your friend…" she gasped, looking at Jack.

"Hm?" he turned and looked down at Jack. "Oh he's fine." As if to prove the Doctor right, Jack gasped in a lungful of breath. He blinked a few times, before standing up and dusting himself off.

"I should keep a record of how many times that happens," he said.

"I'll pay you every time you get to 100," the Doctor said, and they laughed. Romana could only stare.

"But… but…" she scrambled to her feet, looking between the Doctor and Jack. "But… you're dead! How did you do that??" Jack grinned.

"Just a little trick I have," he said, "I can't die, you see. Thanks to Rose," he nodded to Rose, who was standing in the doorway of the TARDIS, "she absorbed the time vortex and brought me back to life. Since then I can't die."

"But that's impossible," said Romana.

"That's what I thought," laughed the Doctor, "not the first time I've been wrong. I thought coming back here was impossible but I was wrong about that too." He watched her for a few seconds, as his smile began to fall. "Bye Romana," he said in a low voice. He started to go back into the TARDIS.

"Wait!" she shouted, running up to him. "Please, help us. We're running out of people and we need all the help we can get," she looked at him desperately, but he shook his head.

"I can't, it would create a paradox."

"This didn't make a paradox! As long as you don't meet yourself it'll be fine," he watched her for a few seconds, clearly tempted. What Jack didn't understand was why he was tempted to go _back _to the war. Wouldn't he want to get away from it as quickly as possible?

"Romana…" he said quietly, "I can't."

"It won't make a paradox! Besides, this is causing enough damage to time as it is one little paradox won't make any difference-"

"No, I don't mean like that," he said, interrupting her. "I can't do this again. I just _can't_," they locked eyes for a few seconds, as she pleaded with him. "Sorry," he whispered, turning to head back into the TARDIS. She watched as he disappeared through the blue doors, followed by Jack. She watched the TARDIS for a few long moments through sad eyes.

Eventually she turned around and started to walk away towards the exit. Just then the Doctor came back out of the TARDIS. "Actually turns out I can't go because the TARDIS needs a new internal power regulator, and I don't happen to have a spare one on board. I don't suppose you've got any here?" Rose and Jack followed him out, both shivering.

A grin appeared on Romana's face, but she quickly became serious again.

"We haven't got any here, no, you'll have to go down to Gallifrey," she said.

"Ow are you sure?" the Doctor complained.

"Yep!" he sighed a long sigh.

"Can I borrow a ship?"

xxx

The three of them sat on their seats in the ship. The passenger area was quite small, with windows along the side and on the ceiling. They'd left the TARDIS there and were going to come back for it.

"If we're going to Gallifrey on a ship that travels through space normally," said Jack, looking out the window at the docking station outside, "Won't we get blown up by the Daleks?"

"This ship has a special cloaking device," explained the Doctor, "it's new, the Dalek's don't know about it. We'll be fine."

"Wouldn't it be easier to get there in another TARDIS?" asked Rose. He shook his head.

"The Daleks can detect TARDISs. Believe me, we're safer in here." There was a rumble from the engines as the ship began to power up. They looked outside as the ship started to lift up. The Doctor looked over at Rose, who was looking out the window in curiosity. He felt terribly guilty for her having to see this. He would have kept everyone in the TARDIS if he could, but as he'd explained to them on the way to the ship, with the internal power regulator gone, the TARDIS was using what little power she had left to stay alive, and all power that was given to basic life functions would be taken away, which was why it was so cold. There would be no gravity, no light, no heat and no air. Not the best of living conditions, really.

The ship suddenly shot out into space, pushing its three passengers back into their seats. And suddenly the docking port was gone from view, replaced by an infinite blackness, filled with burning ships, fleets of Daleks, a large black hole and numerous rips in the fabric of space.

Rose gasped, as she stared out at it all.

"Rose, don't look," the Doctor warned, but she ignored him. "Rose," he said again, his voice slightly higher. A look of horror crossed her face as she saw a nearby ship explode, with masses of Daleks flying around it. "Rose!" the Doctor was shouting now, and her head snapped back to look at him. "Don't look," he said again.

"But-"

"Don't." They watched each other for a second. Her gaze began to wonder back up to the sky, but she quickly looked down again. "You ok?" the Doctor asked.

"What are the orange things?" she asked quietly.

"Rips in space to the vortex," he explained quickly, "the Daleks came through from the vortex by punching through, but it damaged it, and weakened the Time Lords," he looked up around him self, "they healed themselves a few years after the War ended," he said distantly. Rose tried not to look back up, but found it impossible. The Doctor looked down at the few controls they had in the back of the ship; mainly seat adjustments. He found the control he wanted, and pressed the appropriate button.

Rose blinked as the glass suddenly shimmered black, blocking out the view. She looked down again, thankful for the Doctor doing that.

"So who's Romana?" Jack asked after a few silent seconds passed.

"President Romana," the Doctor corrected.

"Personal friends with the president, are we?" Jack laughed.

"Oh yes, very good friends actually. I travelled with her for a bit before she became president, we had to go on this mission… long story. I ended up fighting most of the war with her." There was a pause, until Jack decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while.

"Why don't you use your name?" he asked, "What's wrong with being called Tom?"

"Don't, Jack," the Doctor warned.

"Don't what? I had a friend called Tom when I was younger. I like the name Tom-"

"Jack, just leave it."

"No! Why should I? What's wrong with Tom?" Rose looked up at him.

"Don't," she warned. Jack looked completely bewildered.

"Why?! All I want to know is what's wrong with the name Tom!"

"Nothing's wrong with it," the Doctor said angrily, "if you're a human. But if you're a Time Lord…" he trailed off and looked out the window, then felt rather silly for trying to look out an opaque window and looked at the floor instead, which wasn't much more interesting. He decided to look back up at Jack. "Don't mention that name here," he warned. Jack nodded slowly, leaning back in his seat. He decided to try a different question that had been on his mind.

"Why were you bullied?" he asked. "And in the children's home, why did they do that to you?" the Doctor was silent for a few seconds, staring into space.

"'Cause they knew," he said in a small voice.

"Knew what?" asked Rose.

"That I was only half Gallifreyan. They could sense it. Like I said, Gallifreyans can sense other Gallifreyans, and they could sense that I wasn't a full Gallifreyan. And they'd been brought up thinking this was completely against the law and all hated me for it." He returned to looking down at the floor again.

"But that's not fair," said Rose, "it's not your fault you're half human!" The Doctor looked up at her, a surprised look on his face.

"There's people like that on Earth," he said, "Sexism, racism, it's all the same." There was a pause as they both thought about this. "Have either of you read the book Chinese Cinderella?" the Doctor asked after a few seconds. They both shook their heads. "It's the autobiography of a Chinese woman who's mother died in childbirth, and in China if that happens the child is believed to be bad luck, and she was abused by her father and step mother. It's a bit like that, really. Not so alien now, is it?"

The ship began to rumble and shake slightly, then went back to normal again. The three people in the passenger's compartment stayed silent. It was Jack who broke the silence.

"Is that why you never tell anyone your name?" he asked after a few seconds. The Doctor looked up at him, frowning. "You said people didn't like you 'cause you were half human, and Tom isn't exactly a typical Gallifreyan name, is it?" the Doctor watched Jack for a second, then sighed and leant back.

"No person in the history of Gallifrey has been called Tom. A few years after I was born the whole planet knew about Tom Sigma, the half Gallifreyan child, born against the law. If someone didn't already know who I was the second they knew my name they hated me. But they could always sense who I was anyway. Over the years I learnt to cover it up, if I concentrated hard enough I could make it so people wouldn't notice I was half human. I practised and soon I was able to do it easily. But the problem then came when I told people my name. So I decided to call myself something else. I chose the Doctor." He looked at the black window again.

"Why the doctor?" asked Rose. He stared into space for a few seconds before answering.

"Deb was a training to be a doctor," he said quietly, "one of the few things my father told me about her. She'd always wanted to be a Doctor, and help people," he paused, still staring into nothingness. Rose and Jack were silent for a few minutes. It was Rose to talk first.

"If you only didn't want the other Time Lords to know that your name was Tom, why did you still call yourself the Doctor after the war?" she asked.

"Mostly force of habit," he answered.

"Why else?" Rose wasn't sure if she should be asking him this, last time she had they'd had an argument over it, but this time instead of shouting at her, he didn't say anything. He just sat in silence, lost in his own thoughts for a few seconds, before answering.

"When people knew I was called Tom, they all hated me. I hated the name Tom, no one wanted to have anything to do with me when they knew who I was. At least if I had a normal Gallifreyan name then they might not have known. But no, I was called Tom. Then when I started calling myself the Doctor, people didn't know who I was and they respected me. They _liked_ me. Under the name 'the Doctor' I went to college and university, when there was no chance they'd let Tom Sigma in. I passed and got a degree. Then I trained to be a Time Lord. You see all Gallifreyans are born with certain powers over time and space, but only the Time Lords really know how to use these powers. Time Lords are taught to fly a TARDIS, among other things. I trained to be a Time Lord and I passed, just about. Being only half Gallifreyan I found everything extremely hard to learn, but I managed to become a Time Lord. In the war people found out that I'd tried to reason with the Daleks and stop the war, and they respected me for that. Everyone liked the Doctor. But then near the end somehow they found out who I really was, and they banished me. I never knew how they found that out. I didn't want to leave, I wanted to fight with everyone else, I couldn't just leave while I knew they were dying. By the time I came back they were losing and…" he trailed off, looking down. "The only reason I survived was because I wasn't with the rest of them. And that was because I was half human. That's the only reason I'm alive now." There was a long pause.

"Doesn't that mean it's a good thing," said Rose eventually, "that you're half human? Otherwise you would have died in the war." She expected him to agree, but he stayed silent.

"Sometimes I wish I did die," he said quietly. An even more awkward silence filled the room. The Doctor suddenly sat up, a smile now on his face. "Plus the Doctor sounds more mysterious, doesn't it? I mean if a space ship appears in front of you which is bigger in the inside then I say 'hi my name's Tom' it kinda ruins the atmosphere a bit, doesn't it?" they all laughed, as the tense atmosphere disappeared.

10 seconds later the ship juddered as it came to land. The Doctor pressed a button on the controls, and the windows became transparent again. Outside was another docking port, much like the one on the ship, only it looked quite a bit older. The roof of the ship lifted up, and the three of them stood. The Doctor jumped out of the ship first, then helped Rose out as Jack jumped out. A man walked up to them.

"This way," he said, and turned and headed for a door. The three of them followed, as they heard explosions from above.


	13. Underground Base

Ok, so I know that not much really happens in this chapter, but I promise the next chapter is soooo much better. And, as always, the more you review the faster it will be here. I promise the next chapter will be absolutally epic, second possibly only to the chapter after that. So as always, review review review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Rose made sure to stay close to the Doctor as they walked through the twisting maze of underground Gallifrey. There were people running past them from every direction, either muttering things to themselves or muttering things into phones, scribbling on bits of paper or onto some futuristic device that she had no clue about. Almost every person that went past was saying something or other about Daleks, and they all sounded worried. There were explosions on the surface that sounded like muffled bangs by the time the sound reached her ears. Some explosions were much louder than others, and accompanying every loud one was dust falling from the ceiling as the corridor shook around them.

The Doctor held her hand tightly; there was no way he was going to let them get separated. He could tell she was scared, even if she tried not to show it. He'd been through these corridors many times before and knew exactly where they were going. He looked over at Jack, who looked to be mildly anxious, but otherwise ok. He'd been in wars before and knew what it was like, but no matter how many wars one person had fought in, you never got completely used to it.

The man, who actually looked more like a teenage boy, opened a door and lead them into the room. There was a counter in the centre, behind which was various TARDIS parts, among other things. A man who was sitting at the desk typing something into what looked like a PDA put the devise down and looked up at his visitors. He was a big, burly man, certainly not a guy you'd want to mess with.

"We need an internal power regulator," said the boy who'd lead them there, somewhat nervously.

"I don't just give out parts," the man said in a deep voice, "I need some authorisation."

"President's orders," the boy said even more nervously. The man let out a long sigh, before turning round and picking something out of the shelves behind him. He turned back round. The Doctor walked forward and took the small device from the man's hands, muttering a thank you. The man picked his PDA up again and the four of them left the room.

Once they were out, the boy started to lead them back to way they'd come. Rose looked at the device in the Doctor's hands, which he was turning over and over, inspecting.

"I thought it would be bigger than that," commented Rose. It was slightly smaller than her head, just the right size to fit in the Doctor's palm.

"I don't think they've given me the right type," he said, "I probably should have mentioned it's for a type 40 TARDIS. This is for a much more modern version…"

"There are different types of TARDISs?" asked Rose.

"Oh yes," the Doctor said. He looked up at the boy in front of them. "Excuse me," he said, and the boy turned round. "I've got the wrong type, we need to go back. It's ok, we can take it from here. Thanks," the Doctor grinned at him, and he reluctantly carried on walking, as the three of them turned back. They reached the room again and walked in. The Doctor walked up to the desk and put the regulator on it. The man looked up at him from his seated position.

"I need one for a type 40 TARDIS," the Doctor said, "Sorry," he added. The man stood up, glaring at him. He was a very tall man, but so was the Doctor. The man grabbed the regulator off the table, his hand wrapping around it. The Doctor watched with a polite smile as he turned around and grabbed another from the back of the shelves. This one was slightly bigger, only still smaller than Rose would have expected. The Doctor picked it up in one hand and chucked it to the other. "Thanks!" he said, and turned around. He started walking towards the door, putting the regulator in his pocket. Rose couldn't help but think it looked to big to fit in there, then realised that his pockets were probably bigger on the inside as well.

Suddenly they were thrown to the ground as the room around them shook violently.

"What happened?" gasped Rose. The Doctor jumped to his feet pulled her up.

"I don't kn-" there was another explosion, throwing them once again to the floor. The Doctor quickly jumped up again and ran towards the counter, grabbing the man's PDA and searching through it. The man didn't seem to happy about this.

"Get your hands off!" he yelled, grabbing it from the Doctor and pushing him away. But the Doctor already had the information he wanted.

"The Daleks have found us!" he said urgently, "this is meant to be secret and they've found us, and they're going to destroy the base, we have to get out!" the Doctor ran over to Rose as Jack wrestled with the shelf that had fallen on him in the last crash.

Rose stared to the ceiling, eyes wide. "What?" asked the Doctor. She didn't reply. "What? What is it?" she lifted her hand to point to the ceiling. He followed gave upwards, and realised what she meant. The concrete above them was cracking, as dust and dirt began to fall from the cracks. The Doctor's mouth fell open, and he stared. There was another crash, and the crack began to spread across the ceiling. He pulled Rose to her feet. "Get out of the room!" he ordered, spinning round. "Jack?" there was a smash from the other side of the room where Jack pushed the shelf off him. Jack pulled himself up to his feet and they ran out of the room. They heard a ripping sound as the ceiling collapsed behind them, destroying the room.

They looked through the doorway at the rubble behind them.

"Is he dead?" Rose asked the Doctor; the man hadn't got out of the room.

"Yes," he said quietly, before another explosion from above nearly knocked them off their feet. "Run!" he shouted, pulling Rose down the corridor towards the docking bay.

The walls around them seemed to split and twist, as the ground shook. Dust and debris began to fall from the ceiling. The floor in front of them began to fracture as well, as cracks spread out from their pounding feet.

Soon they saw the docking station ahead of them, as the shaking got worse and worse. They ran out into the large hanger; the ship shaking in the middle. They could see in the cockpit the pilot who'd taken them there anxiously looking out the window, not knowing whether to leave or wait for them. A second later he noticed them running towards the ship, and started up the engines.

All around the hanger people were running around in a mad panic, some clearly more in control than others. Some were yelling commands down a communicator while others were hiding under desks screaming. They watched in horror as massive cracks began to appear in the walls, working their way up to the ceiling. With each crack there was a horrible echoing snapping noise, like bones being hit together.

They finally reached the ship as the cracks extended to and spread across the ceiling, like in the previous room. "In in in!" the Doctor shouted, as the roof began to lift up. He looked up anxiously as large concrete slabs began to fall from the ceiling, smashing into a million pieces on the ground with a deafening bang. He pushed Rose up into the ship as pieces fell around them, crushing other ships until all that was left were twisted bits of metal. People ran screaming from one slab of concrete only to get hit by another. Someone lay on the ground screaming in agony, while people around him tried to pull off the piece that had landed on the lower half of his body. The Doctor watched as those people then run as another piece began to fall from above him, and all he could do was scream as he watched the concrete fall towards him.

The Doctor quickly looked away before the rock hit, and carried on climbing into the ship. Suddenly a chill went through him as he heard a cracking sound directly above them. He looked up, and saw a huge chunk of concrete heading straight towards them and a sickening speed. There was no way the ship would get out of the way in time.

"Get out!" he yelled, pulling Rose towards him. She and Jack looked up in horror at the concrete rapidly approaching them, and scrambled frantically out of the ship. The pilot saw the concrete and jumped out of the cockpit, landing just as Rose, Jack and the Doctor hit the ground, running from the ship. There was an almighty crash behind them, as the ship was crushed. The Doctor pulled Rose in front of him as shards of metal and glass flew from the ship.

They stopped and looked back at the shattered remains of the ship, as the pilot staggered towards them. The Doctor held Rose closer to his body as the room fell apart around them, wrapping his arms protectively around her.

"What now?!" Jack yelled over the noise, looking for another escape route. The pilot was the one to answer him.

"We've got to get to the surface!" he yelled. The Doctor stared at him.

"We can't go to the surface!" he yelled back, "It's even worse up there!"

"You can stay down here if you want but I'm outta here!" the pilot shouted, before pelting towards the door they'd come in. The three of them watched as the pilot ran with numerous other people towards the corridor. Another slab of concrete fell in front of the exit, as people that were running towards it skidded to a halt, then hysterically spinning around searching for another exit.

"There's no other exit," the Doctor said, "We're trapped." Jack looked up at the tunnel that the ship would fly out of. It was at the top of the room, and there was no possible way to get to it.

There was another explosion from behind them, and they spun to see it. Someone on the level above where they were had blown a hole in the concrete wall between the corridor and the hanger. The concrete fell down next to the wall, creating a pile up to the second floor.

"Come on!" That person yelled, as people began to run towards them.

"What do we do?" asked Jack, walking up to the Doctor. "You said it was worse on the surface." The Doctor watched as people began to climb up the concrete pile into the corridor.

"We don't have a choice," he said, before running towards it himself, tightly holding Rose's hand. They reached the pile and started climbing up, as the Doctor made sure Rose went up first. The room crashed behind them as they reached the top of the piled and pulled themselves up into the corridor. The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand again and they started running down the corridor with everyone else, as the room shook around them.

They'd run down the corridor far enough not to hear the crashing of the hanger any more, and reached some stairs. They started running up as there was a massive explosion behind them, which sent the whole crowd falling to their feet, as the hanger behind them collapsed in on itself. There was a second of deathly silence, before they were all on their feet again and running up the stairs.

People around them were getting pushed over and trampled on as the mad rush of people stumbled up the stairs. The Doctor pulled Rose closer to him like a parent trying to protect their child. He tried to looked over the crowd for Jack, but couldn't see him anywhere. He decided not to worry; he knew Jack could look after himself, and that he couldn't die anyway.

They came into another corridor, followed by some more stairs. The walls were weakening more and more around them, and they could feel the floor giving way beneath them. It was only a matter of time before the floor finally did collapse and they all fell to their deaths.

Then their time ran out. Behind them the floor gave way, the concrete falling into the rooms beneath. The unfortunate people to be on that stretch of floor screamed as the fell, the weight of the concrete smashing through the floors beneath. The crowd seemed to somehow run even faster, as the floor disappeared behind them.

Finally they came out on another corridor that the Doctor recognised as being the last one before they were outside. He could hear the crowd behind them screaming as they fell, leaving less and less people between him and Rose and the collapsing floor beneath them. They turned another corner and ahead of them was a light; the end of the corridor. They'd be outside. They got closer and closer, until they were finally there.


	14. The Surface

Right, this chapter gets a bit gruesome, in fact it gets worse than I originally thought it would. I made it as horrific as my innocent little mind could, because after all, this is the Time War. But, then again, this is coming from the person that couldn't watch final destination without contracting a massive fear of planes for the next few months and couldn't start to watch the next film and decided to walk out of the room. I'm not really into horror, so this probably isn't as bad as I'm making it out to be. But you have been warned.

And, just in case it is as bad as I make it out to be, if you think I should increase the rating to an M, say so in the review and I'll change it, otherwise I'll keep it as it is. I don't really want to change it, but I guess I may have to.

While writing this I went though a let's-completely-kill-and-destroy-every-character phase, so they do all get a bit beaten up. I don't know why, but I love beating up the Doctor. Hehe :D I'm evil.

Also, I've written a songfic that I thought was rather good but I so far have a total of one review for… so if anyone, you know, feels like taking a quick look thought it… it's to Love Don't Roam, a song which I am currently obsessing over. It was written to reflect the Doctor's feelings, and is just about the most 10rose thing I've ever heard. It's fantastic!

Hm, long A/N. I should probably get on with the story about now…

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. The disclaimers are getting a bit boring aren't they? But there's only so many ways in which you can write 'I don't own Doctor Who.'

xxx

Rose and the Doctor burst out into the light in a stumbling run, as the tight crowd around them dispersed and they had enough room to breathe again. They came to a clumsy halt as people ran past them in every direction.

Gasping for breath, Rose started to look around. When she saw the scene in front of her, her heart stopped as she stared around, eyes wide in horror and shock.

All around her was fire; the remains of buildings and trees burning as great, angry flames devoured them, black smoke billowing to the sky. People ran in every direction, crying and screaming, covered in dirt and blood, their clothes in tatters. Children ran aimlessly crying for help, as mothers with babies and small children ran, clutching their children close to their body. Teenagers and adults tried to hide, covering their heads from the destruction around them. Daleks flew from the sky down to the ground, hovering a few metres up, as lasers shot in every direction, each hitting their target with perfect accuracy. Groups of Daleks swooped across the sky, as people helplessly ran from them, falling to the ground as they got hit. Cries of 'exterminate' filled the air. Small balls of electricity flew through the air as the Time Lord soldiers shot at the Daleks. Each Dalek that got hit was electrocuted, before it blew up, sending shards of Dalek casing flying to the ground, as the Dalek creatures fell through the air, their slimy bodies blown to bits. Bombs were falling to the ground from ships higher up, rupturing the ground, as the world seemed to rumble and shake as every bomb hit. With every explosion people were thrown through the air, screaming. Smoke from the fires and the bombs contaminated the air as it rose to the sky, which was bright red, nothing like the beautiful orange it had once been. There were slashes of light in the sky, with the only objects visible being the burning ships that had tried to defend the planet against the invasion. There wasn't a star to be seen in the angry red sky; not even the sun.

Rose let out a sob as she stared at the carnage around her. The smell of smoke and rotting corpses filled her nostrils, and she felt sick. The air seemed clear, so much so that she could see for miles around, but all there was to be seen was fire and death. She pushed herself against the Doctor and clung onto him, as the ground shook beneath her and the deafening noise echoed round her head.

The Doctor put his arm round her, as he looked out at the scene with an overwhelming sense of sadness. He'd seen this too many times before. He shouldn't have to see it again.

He looked urgently at the people around him. "Jack!" he called, searching for his friend. "Jack!"

"Doctor!" he spun his head round as Jack ran up to him.

"Jack, you need to find a gun and defend yourself. Try to find something that hasn't been destroyed, probably a tree; it's a TARDIS for the residents of the village to hide in during the battle. When you find it if we're not already there come and find us," he ordered, the words spilling out his mouth, his voice shaking slightly. Jack nodded, and ran into the battle, picking up a gun dropped by a soldier who had been killed. The Doctor looked down to Rose, lifting her head up, placing his hands on her cheeks. "Rose," he whispered, and she looked up at him with reddened eyes, her make up smudged by the tears falling down her cheeks. "Rose, I need you to stay near me, ok? Whatever you do, we can't get separated. Just keep holding my hand, don't let go. I'm going to get you out of here, I promise." She sniffed, and nodded weakly. He gave her a quick hug again, her body shaking in his arms. Reluctantly, he pulled away and grabbed her hand. Then he ran out into the battlefield.

xxx

Rose stumbled over the upturned ground and dead bodies as the Doctor lead the way. He ran towards another body, and grabbed the gun that had been dropped. It was the same gun they had before on the ship. He put it on his shoulder, pointing it at a Dalek and pulled the trigger, and a ball of electricity flew from it, attaching itself to the Dalek, which promptly blew up. He pulled Rose away again, running through the maze of destroyed buildings, jumping over the scattered debris covering the ground. He pulled her behind a building, the remainder of the brick wall only about an inch above his head. He crouched down and Rose crouched with him. She looked out over the desert in front of her, the red sand blowing into the sky. The Doctor cocked his gun next to her, checking how much power it had left. Her aching legs gave way and she fell on her bum. She pulled her legs towards her, wrapping her arms around them. The Doctor leant over to her.

"Stay down," he said, before standing up, placing the gun back on his shoulder. He looked round the building, searching for what looked like it could be a TARDIS. He frowned angrily when he couldn't see anything. He turned around and put his back against the building again, looking up to the red sky, from which Daleks were descending onto the village behind him. He knew the objective for the Time Lords here wasn't to defeat the Daleks, but to rescue the people living here.

One Dalek seemed to notice the two of them there, and began to descend. The two Daleks either side of it did the same. The Doctor held the gun up towards them, as their cries of 'exterminate' grew louder.

He pulled the trigger, as energy balls flew from the gun into the front Dalek, then onto the other two. They all exploded, sending fragments flying. He leant down and grabbed Roses hand again, and pulled her back out.

He pulled her behind another building, this time further into the remains of the village. She aimed the gun at passing Daleks and shot, while scanning the area for the TARDIS. Soon his gun just clicked as he pulled the trigger; it was out of power. He threw it to the side and grabbed Rose's hand again, running out.

He picked up another gun from the floor and started shooting, pulling Rose back against a building. There was an explosion to the left of them as a bomb went off. The heat was blown into them, and for a second they felt as if they were on fire. Then it was over. Rose opened her eyes again, and instantly regretted it.

In front of her landed the upper body of a woman that had just been blown up, the waist in tatters where the body had been ripped in half. She let out a shriek and clung onto the Doctor, unable to take her sight from the woman's open, lifeless eyes.

Finally she managed to look away. She saw the Doctor's body with splatters of blood on his suit; the blood of the woman who had just been killed. She pulled away and looked down at her own body, and her own hands, covered in drops of Time Lord blood. She stared at herself, subconsciously stepping backwards, as she stared in horror.

The Doctor looked round, expecting to see Rose standing next to him. Instead she was standing away from him, looking down at her body, her eyes wide. "Rose!" he yelled, and she looked up at him suddenly. She was at least five metres away from him, but before she could start to run back, a Dalek started to swoop towards her.

"Exterminate!" it yelled, and she instinctively began to run away from it, in the opposite direction to the Doctor.

"No!" the Doctor gasped, as he started to run after her. He ran as fast as he possibly could over the rubble and bodies, as he pointed the gun up to the Dalek that was chasing her. He shot, but was suddenly blasted sideways by a bomb that exploded near him. He hit the ground hard, his head smacking onto a piece of concrete. He refused to let himself pass out, and forced his eyes open. The entire left side of his body felt as if it was burning, the sheer force of the bomb having ripped away any skin that the heat hadn't already burnt off. He looked over at his left hand, most of the top of which was completely red, the skin frazzled by the heat of the explosion. Most of the arm of his suit had been burn away as well, leaving just the remains of the white shirt underneath.

He flung his head back in pain, gritting his teeth. He forced himself to stand up, and he scanned the scene for Rose. He felt a terrible chill go down his spine when he realised he couldn't see her.

"Rose!" he called, "ROSE!" he was shouting at the top of his voice, as loud as physically possible. "_ROSE_!" he shouted so loud his voice went hoarse, but there was no answer. His hearts stopped and he became paralysed with fear. "Rose," he whispered, staring around himself. There seemed to be a second where he couldn't move, when the world just stopped around him, as everything seemed to melt away.

Then he was running.

xxx

Rose screamed as there was a sudden explosion behind her, and she automatically threw her arms over her head. She stood still as the shards of Dalek casing flew to the ground around her. Then she realised what happened. The Doctor had killed the Dalek. She smiled in relief, taking deep breaths. Her body was shaking, and she turned around, waiting to see the Doctor running up to her to engulf her in a hug, and she could relax for just a second as she fell into his arms knowing it was ok.

But he wasn't there. She looked around in surprise, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Doctor?" she gasped, looking around in fear. "Doctor!" she called, but there was no answer. Suddenly she was cold, as the tingling feeling she'd had in her stomach before grew to epic proportions and covered her whole body. She stood completely still, paralysed by fear. She was alone. Tears began to fall down her cheeks. All she wanted right now was for him to walk up behind her and hug her, so she could be with him, have him with her, to protect her, to be there for her, to tell her it was ok. To be the Doctor. But he wasn't there. "Doctor!" she sobbed, wrapping her arms around herself, as her body seemed to go weak.

Suddenly she was thrust back into reality as a bomb went off in front of her, forcing her backwards. She stumbled back, falling onto the ground. Then another one went off near it, and another. She gasped, then pulled herself to her feet and started to run aimlessly.

The world seemed a blur as she stumbled through the rows of destroyed buildings, the deafening sounds of bombs and screams around her. She could feel her feet sometimes landing on something soft; not the hard concrete that had been blasted to the ground, but instead the dead bodies that littered the floor. She felt sick every time her foot sank into another body. She began to feel blood on the bottoms of her trouser legs, as the sharp edges of the debris scratched against her leg; ripping her clothes and scraping against her skin.

Suddenly a Dalek swooped down in front of her, and she stared at it.

"Exterminate!" the gun pointed towards her, but she couldn't seem to run. Suddenly she was pulled out of the way by someone, and they both fell to the floor. She heard a gun go off, and watched as the Dalek above her exploded. She looked across to her saviour, expecting to see the Doctor, but instead saw a woman lying next to her, wearing a helmet.

"You ok?" she asked. Rose could just nod. "Better get yourself to the TARDIS, it's just over there," she nodded behind Rose, "I'll take you there if you want," Rose smiled and nodded.

"Thank you," she said. The woman smiled.

"That's ok, come on," she helped Rose up. "My name's Magenta, by the way. Can you walk?" she asked, and Rose nodded. "Good, come on then," she said, and started leading Rose to the TARDIS. Rose had a bit of a limp. "Think you can run?" Magenta asked, and Rose nodded again. She started to run, but it was more of a jog. Rose went after her, not particularly caring about how much her leg hurt. She just wanted to get out of there. She started to run after the woman.

She followed her through a maze of houses, or at least what was left of them. Magenta ran round a building, and Rose went round after her, but she was suddenly gone. Rose quickly looked to the left, then to the right. She saw Magenta running through the houses to the right, and was now considerably behind her. She turned and started to run after her, trying to catch up. Then the world went white.

xxx

Rose was vaguely aware of flying through the air, but didn't seem to know what to think about it, or for that matter how to think at all. There only seemed to be white and silence as she flew back. Then the world came crashing back as she smashed into the ground. The front of her body seemed to be burning while the back was aching from the concrete it had just landed on. Pain screeched through every vein in her body, as her skin seemed to burn and smoulder. She struggled to breathe, the air feeling like fire burning down her throat. She turned her head to the right to try to dislodge the stone that was digging into it, and rested it on the ground. Slowly she opened her eyes, as she saw blurred fire in the background, and vague images around her.

Suddenly a head landed next to her, the face covered in blood and dirt, the neck ripped off from the body. The skin was red and scorched, leaving holes in the face. The hair was frazzled, leaving only burning remains on the head. The eyes were wide, staring in horror.

Rose screamed and pushed herself away, as the eyes seemed to stare at her. Then something else landed on her, and she looked down to see an arm lying on her. She screamed again and pushed it off, sitting up and edging away from the disembodied limb. The hand was twisted, the clothing ripped away and the skin scalded. The whole arm was covered in blood.

Just behind the arm landed the leg, with a few inches of the body still attached, the skin and insides shredded. It was in much the same condition as the arm and head, twisted and burnt.

Rose stared in utter terror, unable to breathe. She felt as if she was going to throw up. She closed her eyes tightly and covered her ears, but all she saw was Magenta's dead eyes staring at her.

Her eyes snapped open again, and she covered her mouth with her hands. She suddenly realised something, and pulled her hands away. She looked down at them, then at her own body. Her body was burnt, covered in mud and very bloody; some her own, some not. She choked, trying to gasp for breath.

She looked up suddenly as she heard a child crying. In front of her was a small boy, no older than five or six. He too was covered in blood and dirt, his bare arms scorched by the fire, tears streaming down his face.

"Mummy!" he cried, his face screwed up in fear and pain. His curly blonde hair was caked with mud and blood, and stuck to his face. "_Mummy!_" he called again. It reminded her somewhat of when they'd met Jack, with the gasmask zombies, and the little boy walking around, lost and confused, asking for his mummy. She'd give anything to be back there again.

She saw a Dalek swoop down from the sky, towards the boy. He screamed, as the Dalek killed him.

She watched as the boy's body fell to the floor, joining the rest of the dead bodies. She looked up in horror at the Dalek, as it swept towards her.

"Exterminate!" it shouted. She leapt up and ran forwards, ignoring the screeching pain in her legs, ignoring the burning ache through her body. She ran purely on adrenaline, straight under the Dalek, as its laser shot millimetres above her head. She ran behind it and between the buildings, running over the boy's body, trying not to think about it. Don't think, just run. Run. _Run. _


	15. Dead or Alive

Woo! I was really mean last chapter, wasn't I? Well guess what? It's not stopping yet! MWHAHAHA!

As always, please reveiw, blah blah blah, and I have a question - how come this story is on the alert list of 22 people, yet I only get about 7 reviews per chapter? PLEASE reveiw, you know you want to ;)

Again, if you feel this needs to be moved up to M, tell me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

xxx

The Doctor ran awkwardly over the rubble, clutching a gun in one arm, his other arm hanging limp. So far he'd be blow up from every direction, and had had the wall of a building fall on top of him. But he was alive, just about. His body was hanging together so loosely he felt like he'd fall apart if anyone so much as sneezed on him.

It wasn't as if he hadn't felt like this before, though.

He looked down a path between buildings, then down another. Much to his disappointment, Rose was in neither. "Rose!" he called, not expecting an answer. He didn't get one. He carried on limping down the path, as fast as it was possible to limp, which was actually quite quick. He kept telling himself that at least they weren't at the battle in the main city, or any number of other battles he could think of, which were considerably worse than this.

He skidded down another path, and started running again, which was a bad move because he almost instantly fell over a protruding piece of debris and went crashing to the floor.

He groaned, as even more pain seemed to fill every nerve in his body. He rolled over and tried to breathe, his body aching more with every breath. He was sure by now he'd broken some ribs. Time Lords had very strong bones, but ribs seemed somewhat of a weakness, and he was sure that most of his had been shattered.

He pushed himself to his feet, his legs buckling from the pain. He ignored it, and started running again. Pain shot up his leg every time his foot hit the floor, spreading across his pelvis and up his body. His arm ached from carrying the gun, but he didn't dare drop it. He'd be dead 10 times over if it wasn't for that gun.

"Doctor!" he spun round as he heard his name being called, and saw Jack running up to him. "I found the TARDIS, it's just down that way…" he paused and looked around. "Where's Rose?"

The Doctor stayed silent, taking deep breaths. Jack didn't seem to have been hurt, lucky bugger. Not only did he not die, but he appeared to get healed constantly as well. "Doctor?" he asked again.

"We got separated," he breathed, his voice hoarse. "I lost her. I can't find her. Have you seen her?" he asked hopefully, even though he knew Jack couldn't have done.

"No," Jack said, his expression getting increasingly worried.

"We need to split up," the Doctor said, "we need to find her…" he winced, as a sudden pain shot up from his stomach. He leant over suddenly, choking up blood.

Jack watched the Doctor worriedly. He had a huge red patch on his stomach; his clothes were soaked in blood.

"You need to get back to the TARDIS," said Jack.

"No!" the Doctor stood up straight again. "I'm not leaving till I find her."

"You're going to die if you stay out here much longer…"

"I don't care!" the Doctor shouted, and Jack was stunned into silence. "I've got to find her," he said, an emotion in his voice that Jack couldn't quite decipher. He nodded, knowing there was no convincing the Doctor otherwise.

"The TARDIS is that way," said Jack, pointing down the path he'd just walked up. The Doctor nodded wearily. "See ya in hell," Jack said, then ran past the Doctor. The Doctor took a deep breath, then started running down the path towards the TARDIS.

xxx

Rose struggled to run down a path, as tears ran down her face. Her body ached, as piercing pains shot through her. She was running in the direction Magenta had been running, and hoping that she would find the TARDIS. She stopped running for a second and looked around, but saw nothing hopeful. She squeezed her eyes shut as another pain shot through her body.

"Jesus!" she cried, as she stumbled backwards against a wall. The pain gently subsided, and returned to a dull ache. She breathed deeply for a few seconds, summoning any energy she might have left, then started running down the path again.

She came out into a clearing, and looked around. There was nothing that looked like it could be a TARDIS. She sighed, then started to make her way across the clearing.

People suddenly started to run past her, as she heard the distinct sound of a bomb falling. She looked up, and sure enough, there was one heading for the other side of the clearing. She tried to run away, but her foot got stuck. She looked down and almost threw up again when she saw that her foot was, in fact, stuck in the rib cage of a dead body. She screamed as she shook her leg and pulled her foot out, her shoe and the bottom of her trouser leg now covered in blood.

She looked back up at the sky, and the bomb was now seconds from the ground. She gasped and tried to run, but she knew there was no way she'd be able to get out of the way in time. She stumbled backwards, awaiting her death.

Suddenly she was once again pushed to the ground when someone ran at her sideways. They both crashed to the ground, and she heard the bomb go off as the person put themselves on top of her, protecting her from the searing heat of the bomb. The blast threw debris and bodies past her, then it was over.

Slowly, she dared to open her eyes, and was greeted by deep brown eyes that she instantly recognised.

"Doctor!" she gasped, all the pain suddenly banished by an overwhelming sense of relief. He pushed himself up off her. She sat up and threw her arms around him, and he hugged her back. Tears escaped her eyes again, this time however they were tears of joy. He buried his face in her neck, as she felt his own tears touch her skin.

He pulled away, and they looked at each other.

"Oh my god," they both whispered at the same time. They were both covered in dirt and blood, bruises and cuts covering any available surface. Their clothes had been blown to shreds, stained with blood. Neither of them seemed able to talk.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said after a few seconds, his voice rough. She shook her head.

"Don't be," she whispered back. She looked down and noticed his jacket and shirt soaked in blood around his stomach. "What happened?" she asked.

"Just got stabbed by some debris, that's all. Nothing bad," she almost laughed at him.

"Don't give me that," she said. He looked at her sadly, as he knew she was right. She couldn't believe this, none of it seemed right. The Doctor was bruised and battered, covered in blood, wounded and, above all, helpless. She'd never seen him like this. This wasn't the Doctor she knew.

Then he smiled at her, and all was ok again. Through it all, he always had a smile.

The ground suddenly rumbled again as a bomb landed near them.

"Come on, we'd better get going," the Doctor said, standing up. He helped Rose to her feet, then grabbed the gun off the floor. He held her hand, and led her down another pathway.

They began to run as they heard another bomb falling behind them, and he pulled her behind a building as it exploded. A man was thrown through the air screaming, his body on fire, as he smashed into a building in front of them, and fell down onto a sharp, upright piece of concrete. He cried in pain as his body was impaled on it, the concrete stabbing through his body, then fell limp. Rose cringed, and the Doctor pulled her down the path.

They turned another corner, and there it was. It looked like an ordinary tree, but it was completely unaffected by the war around it. Rose breathed a sigh of relief, as she knew what this meant. The Doctor grinned weakly, and they ran towards it. They reached the tree and the Doctor pushed against the bark, revealing a door. He opened it, and they walked in.

xxx

Inside the TARDIS it was completely white. There were chairs around the large room, with people sitting or lying on beds, with nurses and doctors running between them. It looked more like an A&E than a time travelling machine. At the back was what looked like the consol, except it was a lot more organised than the Doctor's, with all the controls in neat rows, rather than strewn across the surface.

The Doctor saw two available chairs, and led Rose towards them. They both collapsed on the chairs, happy to finally be able to relax. Rose shifted her chair closer to the Doctor's. She looked up at him to find he was watching her, with a slight smile on his face.

"What?" she asked. His smile broadened.

"You're brilliant, that's what," he said. She laughed, blushing slightly. "Most humans would have died almost instantly out there, but not you. Not Rose Tyler." She looked up at him again, smiling.

"Only 'cause of what you've taught me," she said.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"Just… everything," they smiled at each other, and the Doctor wrapped his arms around her, and she did the same.

"I was so convinced I'd lost you," he said, still hugging her. The separated but stayed close. He lifted his hand to her face, cupping her cheek. She was looking down, a solemn look on her face. "You ok?" he asked. She nodded, but didn't look up. "Rose," he said seriously. Suddenly she let out a sob, and started crying. He pulled her close, and she leant into him. He rubbed her arm, trying to comfort her, but he knew there was little comfort anyone could give for someone that had seen the Time War. He waited for a few moments, as she began to stop crying so hard. "What did you see?" he asked, but in a way that she knew she didn't have to say anything if she didn't want to. Rose stared into space, as she remembered.

"There was this kid…" she whispered, "this little boy, and he was lost… he just wanted his mummy. Then the Dalek shot him…" she paused, as she wiped her eyes. "Everyone was getting blown up. There's just blood, and fire and screaming… and death…" she shivered as the image of Magenta's head came into her mind again. "There was this woman, she tried to help me. She saved me from this bomb. She was leading me here when this bomb went off and…" she choked out a sob, as she remembered. "She was blown to bits! There was her arm and her leg… it was all twisted and burnt and bloody. And her head. Oh God, her head. It landed right next to me, and… her skin was all burnt, it was frazzled and peeling off her face… and her hair was burnt, and the skin was shredded on her neck and she was all covered in blood and dirt, it looked like her head had been ripped from her body…" she paused, as the image kept replaying itself in her mind. "Her eyes," Rose whispered, "they were staring at me… like she was looking right at me. And they were so dead, but she looked so scared, like she knew she was going to die. She was trying to help me. She was trying to help me get back here. Her name was Magenta, and she was trying to help me…" she paused, as the Doctor stopped rubbing her arm. She frowned, and looked up at him. He was staring straight ahead, into space, his mouth slightly open. She could see tears building in his eyes. She sat up. "What?" she asked. He closed his eyes, as one of the tears escaped. "Doctor?" He opened his eyes again, staring at the floor.

"My daughter was called Magenta," he said in a small voice. Rose started, shocked. She wasn't quite sure what to be more surprised about – the fact that the Doctor had a daughter, or the fact that she could have been his daughter. Then she remembered what'd he'd said once while they were in the TARDIS. _I was a dad, once._ His voice echoed through her head. She started to regret telling him about that, especially in such detail. She wanted to say she was sorry, not only for telling him it like that, but for the possibility of his daughter dying in such a horrific way, but she couldn't seem to find her voice.

The TARDIS shook suddenly, as a bomb landed next to it, snapping them both back to reality. Panic started to grip the room, but people were quickly hushed by the nurses.

The Doctor looked up, then stood up and started walking to the door. Rose watched him, completely confused, jumped up and ran after him.

"What are you doing?" she gasped, running in front of him and stopping him.

"I've got to go out there and fight, people are dying and I've got to help them," he said, and started walking towards the door. She stopped him again.

"If you go out there again you're going to die!" she exclaimed.

"No I won't," he said casually, lowing her hands from his chest where she'd put them to stop him. She leaned closer to him and whispered, as a few people were watching them.

"They're all going to die in the end anyway," she whispered, praying that it didn't sound too mean. The Doctor pushed her away again.

"Then I might as well keep them alive for as long as I can," he said.

"But you can't go out there!"

"I have to, Rose. Besides I've gotta find Jack, tell him you're safe. He's still out there looking for you."

"He'll come here."

"No he won't, Rose, trust me. I've gotta help them."

"But-"

"If Magenta hadn't helped you, would you be here now?" the Doctor asked. Rose was silent.

"But…" the Doctor watched her for a moment, then headed for the door again. She ran in front of him, again blocking his path. By now they'd gained quite a crowd.

"Rose-"

"I'm not letting you die," she said decidedly.

"I'm not going to die!"

"But we're safe here! We're going to escape!"

"Rose, you don't understand," he said calmly, so calmly she stopped talking. "I _have _to help them. I just do," Rose finally realised what he meant. But she wasn't having this.

"I'm coming with you then," she said. His eyes widened.

"What? No! Rose, you've got to stay here."

"I'm not leaving you," by now almost everyone on board was watching them.

"_I'm _not having you come with me. It's way too dangerous Rose, you must know this by now."

"But what if you need help? What if you get hurt? I'm coming with you."

"No! You…" he looked at her desperately, trying to get her to understand. "You can't," he said, quietly. He lifted his hand to her cheek. "I can't lose you. I can't risk it. It's safe here, you'll be ok. If you come back out I can't guarantee you'll be safe. And I don't want you to see any more than you already have," he paused, and held her hand with his other hand. "I _can't _lose you, Rose. Promise me you'll stay here, where it's safe. Where I know you'll be ok. Promise me."

"But-"

"Promise." They watched each other for a few seconds, and Rose gave in.

"Ok," she whispered. The Doctor smiled at her, and pulled her in for a hug. She hugged him back, squeezing him tightly. She sobbed, as tears began to fall down her cheeks. He pulled away and held her cheek again, and she looked up at him. He gave her a grin, then headed to the door. She turned and watched him go. He opened it, and she saw the fire and the Daleks outside. "Be careful," she said quickly. He turned and smiled at her.

"I will," he said, then disappeared out the door. She stared at the door for a few seconds, before breaking down into tears.

"Aww," the whole room said, as they watched her cry. She looked up, trying to be brave. She knew the Doctor was strong, he wouldn't die. He'd done this before and he could do it again, he wouldn't want her to cry.

He'd be absolutely fine.


	16. Shreds of Life

I am officially evil in this chapter. I don't know what happened to me to make me so inexplicably evil, but something clearly happened because after reading this you'd think I have a morbid hatred of the Doctor. I don't, I just like beating him up a bit. I did so then I got home Friday night after an intersting poetry lesson and added to the descriptions, so it all gets rather morbid... oh well!

This has the worst, most unorigional ending ever, I know, so you don't need to tell me. You'll know what I mean when you get there.

First person to review this gets the honourable position of 100th review, and will give me my first review into triple figures!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or a certain line in this which I saw on a 6th form art peice in school and adpated to fit into this story. You'll probably spot the line, it's about five times better than anything I've ever written. Let's see if you can guess which line. Oh and Awsome Dorkness or QueenBoris or whatever her name is now also helped with a few paragraphs in this chapter. Thanks!

xxx

Rose sat alone on her seat in the TARDIS, as people ran frantically around her. She'd refused any help from the doctors – she was beginning to feel better, and she didn't want them to find out anything about her or the Doctor that they couldn't know.

She leant forward, resting her elbows on her legs and fiddling with her hands, staring at the floor. Any minute now, she thought. Any minute now the Doctor was going to walk through the door, absolutely fine, laughing and telling her she should have known he'd be ok. But she couldn't stop worrying.

She looked up suddenly as an alarm started ringing through the room, hushing everyone into silence for a second, before the level of panic rose even higher than before.

A second later a calm voice rang out through the room, as the alarm stopped.

"Please remain seated and don't panic. The Daleks have located us, and we will be leaving shortly," the panic began to rise again at the word Dalek. The voice came back again, sounding rather annoyed. "I said don't panic! We're going to leave as soon as our soldiers return," there was a pause, as the room was still in general panic, but people had stopped moving. "You'll be _fine_," the voice added. No matter how good an actress someone was, it was impossible to remain calm at a time like this.

Rose watched the door nervously, as soldiers began to run back into the TARDIS. She watched the flow of people; desperately hoping the Doctor would be next.

xxx

The Doctor ran like a madman down a path, his feet flying over the ground. Buildings zoomed past him in a mad blur as he leapt over fallen debris and bodies, the thick air blowing against his blood-coated hair. His coat billowed out behind him, the tattered ends snagging on shards of rubble. The burning pain that had been running through his body was replaced by pure adrenaline, as it pumped through his veins.

He leaped out from the enclosed pathway into an open space. He glanced around and saw Jack in the middle of it.

"Jack!" he shouted, and Jack spun round as he saw the Doctor running so fast he looked almost like a blur. "Gun!" he yelled, holding his arms out. Jack acted quickly and ran towards him and chucked the gun, where it landed neatly in his arms.

The Doctor jumped over a fallen tree and spun around in midair to face the Dalek that had been flying after him. He pulled the trigger again and again as balls of electricity shot from the end and hit the Dalek, sending bolts crackling over it's casing, before the Dalek finally exploded.

The Doctor braced himself as he crashed to the ground, skidding backwards from his momentum, then crashing into a wall behind him. He covered his face as the fragments of Dalek casing rained around him.

He slowly lowered his arms, as his chest heaved up and down with the deep breaths he was taking. Jack ran up to him.

"You ok?" he asked, falling to his knees by the Doctor, who was clutching his stomach. The Doctor winced as the adrenaline that had been stopping the pain began to wear off, and the searing pain came flooding back.

"AAH!" he cried, throwing his head back. Jack looked around anxiously for any Daleks that might be flying around, before looking back at the Doctor.

The Doctor had his eyes squeezed shut, teeth gritted, as he clutched his bleeding stomach. He started to choke up blood, coughing up thick, red liquid. Taking short, sharp breaths, he slowly removed his bloodstained arms from his stomach. He looked down at himself, his arms shaking. Jack gasped as he realised what had happened.

There was metal… lots of it. One particularly large fragment of it sticking out of the Doctor's stomach. It was horribly big, and there was no way of knowing how far in it went. Jack didn't even _want _to know how big it was. He felt a chill go through him as the Doctor looked him in the eye, a look of pain and desperation on his face. His brown eyes were turning dimmer by the second as life seeped from his body, his blood staining his clothes, some dripping onto the floor, mixing with other people's blood.

The Doctor's body shuddered as the scorching pain spread through his veins. He threw his head back again as he yelled out in pain. The agonised, dying screams of the people around him faded away as his own screams replaced them, echoing through his mind. His heart raced as the burning pain raced through his veins; angry, sharp stabs punching at his body. In the back of his mind he remembered something distant about the Daleks changing their casing so that, should any of it cut a Time Lord, a poison would be spread through their body. He tried to ignore the pulsating pain throbbing through him and focus on Jack, who seemed to be spilling unheard words from his mouth. Slowly, gradually, the noise around the Doctor began to come back as he forced himself to concentrate and refused to give up.

He tried to talk, but couldn't seem to form words. "P…pr…" he choked as the taste of blood once again filled his mouth, as he felt liquid running down his chin. Warm blood ran down his body from the wound. "P…pressure…" he managed to choke out, and Jack seemed to understand. He instantly took his jacket off and pressed it against the Doctor's stomach, trying to stop the flow of blood. The Doctor somehow managed to focus on Jack, his senses beginning to return.

"Shall I pull it out?" he heard Jack ask.

"NO!" he gasped, "_don't_ _pull_."

"How deep does it go?"

"Too deep," he whispered, as it seemed to be the only think he could think of to say. He could feel the spike at least half way down into his body. Had it been any other time he would have just pulled it out and regenerated, but he wouldn't do that, not now. He couldn't do that now. He felt his body weakening by the second, as his blood gushed out of the wound.

"Can't you regenerate and heal it?" Jack asked, as if reading the Doctor's mind. He shook his head violently.

"I'm _not _going to regenerate," he said through gritted teeth.

"Why not?!"

"I can't do that to Rose." Jack looked at him as if he was crazy.

"What?! What does Rose have to do with this?"

"I can't…" his breathing quickened as he tried to force the words out, "Every time I regenerate, it goes wrong…" he squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again a second later, "she needs _me_," his voice became even more strained, "She… I… aah!" He clutched his stomach again, bending over double.

Jack quickly put his arm out to stop him before he pushed the fragment any further in. The Doctor leant back on the wall behind him, choking and spluttering. Jack tried to think of what to do, as he tried to remember the way back to the TARDIS from there.

The sound around the Doctor began to fade away again, as his vision began to blur. His senses seemed to leave and return like a yo-yo, teasing him almost. He tried to force his blood-shot eyes open and focus on Jack, who was a vague blur. He heard distant noises through the thick silence in his head, words dimly familiar but twisted like reflections in a fun house leaving little impression on the glassy surface of his brain. He could feel the energy seeping from his muscles as his limbs began to go limp, numbness spreading through his body.

"Doctor!" Jack shouted, as he became weaker, his arms gently falling to his sides. "_Doctor!_" he could only watch helplessly as the Doctor's eyes fell shut and his head rolled back.

Suddenly a new noise filled the air, the distinct sound of TARDIS engines. Jack looked around suddenly, a rising feeling of worry filling his body. The few people around them quickly started to run.

"The TARDIS…" he whispered, staring around in horror. This wasn't happening. He looked up as he saw more Daleks gathering in the air, and knew that they'd stand no chance just lying there. He tied his jacket tightly around the Doctor's body and quickly jumped up, pulling the Doctor to his feet. He hooked the Doctor's arm around his shoulders. The Doctor hung limply off him, his dead weight pulling Jack down.

Jack began to half run half walk forward as the Doctor dragged along beside him. He made his awkward way across the broken concrete and bloody corpses, back to the TARDIS, praying they'd get there in time.

xxx

Rose looked on with a rising sense of worry as the number of people entering the TARDIS grew less and less, and the Doctor was still no where to be seen. Eventually one last person ran through the door, then there was no one. Rose's breath caught as the engines grew louder. Her hearts stopped as someone started to walk towards the door to close it. Before she knew what she was doing she found herself leaping up and running towards the woman that was heading towards the door.

"Stop!" Rose shouted, running in front of the startled woman. "You can't!" the woman stopped in front of Rose, as Rose stood defiantly between her and the door.

"I have to shut the door," she said in a small voice. "We can't leave until-"

"I don't care!" Rose cried, "Just wait, please, just a few more minutes, he'll come, I promise…"

"I'm sorry we can't wait any longer."

"You can't just leave him!"

"I'm sorry but I have to-"

"No!" The woman tried to push past Rose and the two of them struggled, before Rose was pulled away. "Don't!" she cried, reaching out. The woman walked to the door and started to push it closed.

Just before it was shut, a small boy hurtled himself through it. He looked around the room, scared out of his mind.

"Crax!" a woman cried happily, running out from her seat to hug her son. He ran to her as she picked him up.

The woman started to close the door again, but the boy shouted something.

"There's two men out there!" the woman stopped, and turned to look at him. "One's really hurt," the woman paused, the opened the door and looked out. Sure enough, she saw to men, one carrying the other along. She quickly ran outside to help them, stumbling over the debris on the ground.

Jack looked up, and smiled gratefully as he saw a woman running towards them. She joined them and put the Doctor's free arm around her shoulder, and they both carried him into the TARDIS, the ground shaking beneath them.

Rose gasped and stared in horror as they brought the Doctor inside. His torso was completely covered in blood, most of which was dripping down his legs onto his trousers. He hung from Jack's shoulders, unconscious. Some of the doctors pulled up a bed and they laid him on it, and it wasn't until she managed to push her way through the gathering crowd that she saw the reason he was in this state.

Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the piece of metal sticking out of his stomach, covered in blood. He was taking short, sharp, jagged breaths, as blood spluttered from his mouth. His skin was deathly pale. His body was jerking and shaking, the hand that was hanging off the table quivering.

She argued her way into being let near him, and knelt by the bed, grabbing his hand. Their heads were about level, his slightly higher than hers. She could just about hear him muttering something, but she couldn't make out any words. Just nonsensical rambling. She was vaguely aware of people behind her saying that they'd dematerialised and were setting the course to the nearest ship. She moved closer to the Doctor's bed, as she tried to hear what he was saying. His head was on its side, facing her.

"Rose…" he whispered suddenly. She could only just make out that it was her name, but he definitely said that. "Ro…r…_Rose_," she squeezed his hand, and moved closer to him.

"It's ok Doctor, I'm here," she whispered into his ear, and his shaking seemed to settle down somewhat.

"Rose?" he whispered, his eyes still closed.

"It's me Doctor, it's ok," she said gently, rubbing his hand. Ever so slowly, his eyes began to flutter open, and he looked at her. A cold chill took over her body as he gazed at her, his deep, brown eyes staring into the distance, unfocused, lost. His eyes seemed to be glazed over. She tried not to cry. "Doctor," she whispered, her voice cracking. Then suddenly he seemed to focus on her, as he looked straight into her eyes. He looked at her with infinite sadness and guilt.

"Rose…" he whispered, and she moved even closer towards him. His voice was quiet and hoarse, but he spoke with emotion and sincerity. "Rose," his voice was so quiet she had to lean in to hear him. His gaze began to flicker, as his eyes glazed over again, and he looked distant. His focus seemed to be flicking onto Rose, as he squeezed her hand weakly. Gently, his eyes fell closed, as he managed to utter three words in his last breath.

"I love you."


	17. Tom Sigma

Haha I'm so evil. I hope this chapter makes sense, I think it does but I'm always worried people won't know what I'm on about. So if you're confused, review and say so. And you know what? Review anyway :D

And I KNOW that the Time Lords probably wouldn't have defibrillators, but I couldn't think of anything better. Give me a break.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Rose stared with wide eyes as the Doctor slipped into unconsciousness. His hand went limp in hers, and his body stopped shaking.

"Doctor?" she whispered, but got no response. Nothing. The doctors above her seemed to go into overdrive, suddenly yelling commands and information at each other, but they were only muffled voices in the background to her.

"He's lost consciousness…"

"…severe blood loss…"

All other noise faded into the background, as Rose could just hear the last three words he'd said fly round and round her head. _I love you_.

"…poisoned metal…"

"…not enough blood…"

"…can't regenerate…"

She stared as his motionless head and shoulders, lying completely inert on the table. He was covered in blood and dirt, cuts and bruises, burns and bumps. His hair was caked in mud and blood; sticking out in every direction. He had a black eye. Where the skin had been burnt it was red and blistered.

"…heart rate decreasing…"

"…not breathing…"

What if this was it? What if he was… dead? What if he couldn't regenerate? She'd never be able to be with him again. She'd never be able to talk to him, or to hug him, or hold his hand. She'd never be able to watch as he rambled on about nothing while running around the TARDIS consol, setting route for some unknown planet. She'd never be able to run for her life with him, as aliens chased them on some distant planet. She'd never be able to eat chips with him, or laugh at his bizarre jokes, or watch proudly as he figured something out and saved everyone. She'd never be able to watch as he fixed the TARDIS, or laugh when Jackie started shouting at him. She'd never be able to save the world with him again, and stand up for what's right and go around the universe with him battling evil.

But worst of all she'd never be able to tell him how she felt.

"We're losing him!"

"No heart rate, not breathing…"

"Get the defibrillator!"

Rose was lost in her own world as she imagined her life without the Doctor. He'd meant so, so much to her. How could she possibly go on without him?

Suddenly she was on her feet and being pulled backwards. Familiar arms held her back as she watched the Doctor. They'd removed his shirt, underneath which was even more blood, dirt, gashes and bruises. The wound on him stomach had been hurriedly tied up with some bandages; now soaked in blood. On a nearby table sat the metal shard what had been speared through his body. It was devastatingly big, absolutely covered in thick, red blood.

The doctors pulled a machine over, as one held something in each hand, with wires attached to the machine. She recognised it as a defibrillator, but it looked different to one on Earth.

"Clear!" the doctor yelled, before pressing the pads onto the Doctor's chest. His body jerked as the electricity passed into him, but nothing happened. "Increase voltage!" the doctor ordered, as the humming sound produced by the machine became slightly louder. The pads we pressed against the Doctor's chest again, and his body jerked again, more violently than before. Still nothing.

Rose watched in horror, tears gently running down her cheeks, leaving tracks in the dirt and blood. She watched as they repeated the process, each time with a higher voltage, each time with no success. Once again the Doctor's body arched up, then fell back on the bed. The doctors pulled another machine over, and others started injecting something into him.

Rose couldn't watch. She turned into Jack and covered her eyes as she started to cry, hearing the doctors' exasperated yells behind her. Jack watched sadly, as he tried to comfort Rose. He didn't know what the Doctor had said to her; he hadn't heard. He looked down to the floor, unable to watch.

Behind the main doctors who were operating on the Doctor stood a group of nurses who's job it was to bring the appropriate equipment over. It wasn't a particularly taxing job, as there were only three machines the doctors would ever really need. So another part of their job was to try to sense the person that was being operated on; if they could still sense them, they were alive. The doctors didn't do this because they were usually too busy to think about everything else. This meant that extra machines to measure whether they were alive or not wasn't needed.

The nurses frowned as they sensed something odd. Something different, something that shouldn't be there. Something that they'd never sensed before. But they knew exactly what it was.

One nurse whispered to the other, who nodded. She then whispered to the one next to her, who also nodded. The two male nurses whispered something to each other, then to the two females. They whispered about how it felt different. They whispered about a name which hadn't been heard since the beginning of the war. They looked up at the doctors, then whispered that they didn't seem to have noticed. They contemplated telling the doctors, then decided they would. They nominated one of the boys, who nervously walked up to the doctor.

"Excuse me," he said.

"What?" snapped the doctor, rather stressed. The boy swallowed.

"There's something wrong."

"What?" the doctor carried on working.

"He feels different."

"What sort of different."

"I mean…" he turned back to the other nurses, who silently encouraged him on. "Different."

"What do you mean, different?" the doctor was getting angrier now.

"I mean…" the boy lowered his voice to a whisper as he said the forbidden name. "Tom Sigma."

The doctor instantly backed away, staring at the body in front of him.

"Oh my god," he whispered, "you're right." They stared at the man for a few moments, until another doctor walked up to them.

"The electrostat's charging, with any luck this should work." The doctor looked over at him, and spoke in a whisper.

"What's his name?" he asked. The other doctor shrugged.

"Dunno," he answered. "Why?"

"Look at him for a second, and concentrate." The doctor looked at him slightly oddly, then did as he was told. Then his eyes widened.

"It can't be," he whispered.

"Discharge the electrostat," the main doctor ordered, and the man quickly obeyed. He started to walk over to the large machine positioned by the bed.

By now the audience were muttering. They'd felt it too. They watched the doctor walking towards the electrostat, knowing what he was going to do. But none of them made a move to stop him.

Before the doctor had a chance to turn it off however, it sent a spark through the Doctor's body. His eyes suddenly snapped open, as he gasped for breath. Then three things happened at once.

Rose spun round as she heard the Doctor's gasp, and watched with wide eyes as he started breathing, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The TARDIS landed, and everyone in the room started to quickly file out of the door, all muttering things to each other about one man.

"Damn," the main doctor muttered, as his patient started breathing. He too joined the rest of the crowd, along with the other doctors and nurses.

Rose and Jack slowly walked towards the Doctor, as the crowd around them dispersed. Rose knelt by his side, and took his hand. His eyes stopped flicking around the room and looked down at her, and there was a moment when he didn't seem to know who she was. Then he smiled.

"Hello Rose," he said in a small voice. She let out a shriek of laughter, and flung her arms around his body and hugged him, trying not to squeeze to hard. He looked down at her, a weak smile on his face. He slowly lifted his arm up and rested it on her back.

xxx

Outside, rumours were spreading. Tom Sigma had died, Tom Sigma was in the war, the doctors had killed him, the doctors had saved him, the doctors had left him die. People who had been working in the ship whispered with the TARDIS passengers about it. A silence fell over the room as President Romana came through the door.

"Where was that TARDIS from?" she demanded. The pilot of the TARDIS stepped forward.

"The village Philliador," he answered. She nodded; that was where she'd sent the Doctor.

"Was the Doctor in the TARDIS?" she asked, scanning the crowd for him. "He regenerated, he's tall, thin, brown hair, wearing a brown pin-strip suit," she stood still and waited for an answer, but was instead met by a silence even quieter than the one before. There were a few long, horrible moments as people began to realise what this meant.

Then muttering broke out, as urgent, surprised whispers filled the room. Romana looked around herself.

"President," said the main doctor, walking forward, "the man you just described is _not _the Doctor." The mutterings quietened as the people awaited her response.

"Yes is it," she said simply. She looked around the crowd's surprised faces, then back at the doctor.

"He was injured in battle and we had to operate on him," he explained, "during which we discovered something," he paused nervously, as Romana watched him intensely. "We know who the Doctor is," he said. Silence fell upon the room again as they waited for him to say the name. "The Doctor is Tom Sigma."

xxx

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor watched the screen on the consol, as he clutched his stomach.

"The TARDIS is close," he said, "just outside this room, in fact," he pressed another button as the symbols disappeared from the screen. He started to walk back to Jack and Rose.

"You sure you're ok?" asked Rose.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm…" the paused for a second, wincing, then carried on, "fine." Rose smiled at him. He looked at her for a few seconds, frowning. She seemed to be looking at him differently, and it was unnerving as hell. "Anyway," he said quickly, walking over to the bed and picking up his jacket, "we'd better be going," he put what was left of it on and did up the remaining buttons. He then put on his long coat, which seemed to cover up most of the wound on his stomach. He began to make his way to the door, followed by Jack and a somewhat dreamy Rose.

xxx

The crowd went silent again as the doors of the TARDIS opened, and the Doctor stepped out. Romana ran through the crowd towards him, and stumbled to a halt in front of him.

"Doctor, please tell me it's not true," she gasped. He looked at her in confusion. "Please tell me what they're saying isn't true," she whispered, shaking her head, "please tell me you're not Tom Sigma."

The Doctor stared at her, then looked up around the crowd behind her, who were all staring at him. He tried to speak, but couldn't find anything to say. The crowd around him glared at him, some of them starting to back away.

"Oh god," Romana whispered, stepping away from him, "it's true," she stared at him, covering her mouth with her hands. She shook her head, as tears began to prick her eyes.

"Romana…" he started, but she interrupted him.

"Don't," she warned. She dropped her hands to her side, fiddling nervously with the hem of her top. "Just… go," she said, her voice shaking. He took a step forward.

"Romana-"

"Just go!" she ordered, as she fought to keep back the tears. He stared at her, as he felt everything seem to fall apart. "Please, just go. And don't come back." He watched her for a few long seconds, as her distraught look gradually became more and more stern. "Go," she said decidedly, folding her arms. He still watched her, pleading silently, but she did nothing.

Eventually his eyes flickered to the floor, as he began to walk past the crowd. Rose and Jack gingerly walked after him, feeling the full intensity of every person staring at them with the sort of hatred Rose hadn't thought possible. They walked in silence as muttering began to spread across the crowd, as they whispered about what they'd heard. Rose managed to catch certain words, and they were much the same as they had been in the playground, when they'd seen him as a child. That seemed so long ago now. She looked at the Doctor who was walking slightly ahead of her, staring dead ahead, not looking to the crowd. He almost didn't seem to acknowledge their presence, he just kept walking, ignoring it all. As if he'd done it before.

Soon he reached a door, and it opened. The whispers behind them grew in volume as they walked out of the room. They walked through and the door closed behind them. Rose and Jack realised they were in the room they'd been in before with Romana, and sure enough, just in front of them was the TARDIS.

The Doctor walked up to it and opened the doors. Jack and Rose followed him in, and watch in silence as he pulled out of his pocket the internal power regulator (which surprisingly hadn't broken) and attached it to the consol, before setting a route. The engines started up and the central column ground up and down as the TARDIS took flight.

The Doctor silently watched the screen while he pressed various controls, a slight frown in his face. A second later he stood back from the consol.

"We need to go back to Gallifrey," he said simply, "before the War. I need some other parts." He stood back, looking at the screen. His face was completely blank, showing no emotion. "It'll take a while to get back through to before the War. A few hours, minimum," he watched the screen for a few seconds, his face blank. There was a beep, and only Rose saw the slight twitch in his face. Then he turned around and headed out of the door down the corridor.


	18. Aftermath

This chapter seemed to take forever to write, it just refused to end. Stupid great long 10rose conversations... oh yeah, this chapter has a lot of 10rose. :D I think it's about time for a bit of fluff. Well, it's not that fluffy, but it's the most fluffy thing you've ever read when compared to the last few chapters.

A BIG thank you to SmileyHalo for such a cool review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Rose sat in her room, trying not to cry. So much had happened in the last few hours it was unbelievable, and even if she tried to blank out her mind and not think about everything that happened, the pain was enough to make her want to cry. She decided that, as comfortable and relaxing as lying on her bed was, she had to get up and do something about the wounds covering her body. Maybe it would give her an excuse to talk to the Doctor.

She blearily pushed herself up and walked from her bed across the room to the door, her body aching. The door creaked slightly as she opened it, and she let it close behind her as she walked down the corridor in search of the Doctor.

First she decided to try the control room. Chances were he was probably in there working on some part of the TARDIS. She walked through the maze of corridors until she got to the correct door, or what she hoped was the correct door as she never knew when the TARDIS was playing around with the rooms, and walked through it.

Instead of the control room, she found herself in Jack's room. She blinked. Why did the TARDIS want to take her to _Jack's _room?

Then he walked into sight, slightly surprised to see Rose at his door.

"Oh sorry," she said quickly, "I was looking for the Doctor…"

"Why?" Jack asked, instead of telling her where the Doctor was, which, she thought, would have been infinitely more helpful.

"'Cause… I wanna tell him something."

"And what's that?" Jack put on a cheeky smile.

"None of your business!" she laughed.

"Everything's my business," he said suavely, walking up to her. She gave him a weak smile, and looked down at the floor. "Come on," he said seriously, the cheek and charm gone, "what's wrong?"

"I just…" she paused, looking around the room for some sort of inspiration. She didn't find anyway.

"Do you wanna sit down?" Jack asked, gesturing to his bed. Rose nodded gratefully, and walked into his room. It was almost as messy as hers, except there were machine parts and wires scattered over the floor instead of clothes and magazines. She sat on the bed, which she couldn't help but notice was a massive, 2-person (well, probably 3-person) 4-poster bed. He dropped himself on it next to her. "So what's up?" he asked. She waited for a few seconds, as she tried to decide what to say.

"Did you hear what he said to me?" she asked finally, looking up at Jack, "When he was on the bed and I was kneeling by him, did you hear what he said?" he shook his head.

"Didn't hear a thing," he replied. "What did he say?" Rose looked away for a second.

"He said…" she didn't seem to be able to say it. "He said that…" she didn't exactly know _how _to say it. She buried her face in her hands and she tried to gather enough courage to say it.

Jack watched, eager to know what the Doctor had said, but he wasn't going to rush her. He briefly had a flashback to when he worked for Torchwood. Every time they had an alien encounter he always seemed to end up comforting one of them, whether it was because they couldn't handle the job, they'd just lost their girlfriend or they could see into people's minds. He always seemed to be agony aunt. Weird, really, he'd never exactly seen himself as an advice giver or a good comforter, but he always seemed to end up as one. He wondered briefly what the people Torchwood were up to, and how they'd been getting on without him. But he only wondered for a moment as his mind quickly changed back to Rose.

She lifted her head from her hands, and rested her chin on her fists. Just say it, she thought. Just say it. So she did.

"He said he loves me," she said quietly. She didn't even look at Jack, and there were a worrying few seconds in which he said nothing. Then he said something she really wasn't expecting.

"Finally!" he laughed. She looked up at him in surprise. "I've been waiting for him to say that since I first met you two! Do you know how _agonising _it is to watch two people blatantly in love with each other and, no matter how many hints you drop, they refuse to acknowledge how they feel?" he laughed, rocking back on the bed, slapping his knees. "It's about bloody time. He's _finally _admitted it!" Rose was astonished.

"You mean… he loved me before?" she asked.

"Hell yeah!" he laughed. "And you love him too, don't deny it," he said, giving her a knowing look. She glanced away, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red. "Come on," Jack coaxed, "Admit it. You love him." Rose smiled to herself, and tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Yeah," she said quietly, "I do." An even bigger grin spread across Jack's face.

"Tell him then!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"But…" Rose trailed off.

"But what?" he pushed. She didn't answer. "But what?!" he asked again.

"But what if he doesn't?" she said quietly, "What if he doesn't really love me and he didn't mean it, I mean what if he was only rambling and it isn't true?" Jack let out a long sigh.

"He loves you Rose, trust me," he said, but Rose still looked unsure. "Rose, think about it this way. He was half conscious, he wasn't thinking, he didn't know what he was saying to you, he didn't know what not to say to you, so he's only going to tell the truth, isn't he?" Rose gave him a confused look, and he realised that what he'd just said probably had been quite confusing. He looked at it a different way. "It's like being drunk," he said, using the sort of voice someone uses when saying something that they say often, "when you're drunk, you always tell the truth because you don't realise that people aren't meant to know the truth. Then you wake up remembering nothing, hoping that they also remember nothing. He's just forgotten he said it. Now go and remind him!" Rose looked at him, laughing slightly.

"It always goes back to drinking, doesn't it?" she joked.

"Yep!" Jack agreed, nodding. She looked back down at her hands, which she was fiddling with. Jack watched her for a few seconds.

"But-"

"What now!?" she laughed at his annoyed interruption.

"I mean… it's meant to be the guy that tells the girl, not the other way round." Jack gave her a look which said, 'I don't know where to start correcting that sentence.'

"He's not going to care, Rose," he said, as if she'd just asked him which shade of pink hair band he thinks she should wear. "And once you've told him, neither are you."

"I know," she said, looking away again. "I just…" she trailed off again. Jack sighed, and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Rose, I'm going to tell you what to do. You are going to go and find the Doctor, tell him you love him, then have a passionate night with him that you will never forget," she laughed loudly, throwing her head back.

"It's always sex, isn't it?" she mocked, "if it's not drinking it's sex!"

"The two greatest things in life, why not?" Jack joked back. She quickly sobered up. "Seriously though," he said, "go and tell him. Trust me." She looked down at her hands again, then looked up at Jack and gave him a smile.

"Ok," she said quietly. He returned her smile, and she stood up and walked out the room. He grinned to himself as he watched her leave, thinking only one word. Finally!

xxx

Rose walked down the endless corridors, vainly searching for the Doctor. Looking for someone in the TARDIS was as hard as finding a needle in a haystack. Or finding a string of hay in a pile of needles, which was probably much harder. She'd checked the control room, his bedroom, the kitchen and even ended up back in Jack's room at one point. She sighed and folded her arms. She went to lean on the wall, but quickly moved away as her clothes rubbed against her sore skin. Then she thought of one room she hadn't checked – the med bay.

xxx

Rose hesitantly opened to the door to the med bay, as she had with every other room she'd thought the Doctor might be in. But this time instead of being greeted by an empty room, she saw the Doctor sitting on one of the beds, his feet up next to him, his arms wrapped around his legs and his head resting on his knees. He looked up suddenly when he saw her, and quickly put his legs down.

"Hello," he said quickly, slightly surprised that she was there.

"You ok?" she asked, stepping in the room and closing the door behind her.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Always fine," he gave her a quick smile, but she saw right through it.

"What's wrong?" she said, walking up to him. As if she really needed to ask.

"Nothing," he insisted. She sat on the bed next to him, and took his hand.

"Come on, you can tell me," she said, giving him an encouraging smile. He looked away for a second.

"It's just… it was me," he gave a laugh, as he looked straight ahead with a hidden sadness, "I never knew how they found out who I was, who I really was. It was me all along," he pursed his lips together, then let out a sigh, "Kind of ironic, really. Is that the word? Ironic?" he frowned as he thought through the complexities of the English language, "Or is it dramatic? Or maybe it's just sods law," she laughed, but quickly stopped.

"Stop changing the subject!" she said, punching him playfully on the shoulder.

"I'm not!" he defended, looking at her. She noticed that he'd cleaned up most of his wounds, and even gone to the extent of putting a bandage around his hand, while hers remained the same. But she decided she'd mention it later; there were more important things to discuss.

"You travelled with Romana before then?" she asked.

"Yeah, ages ago. Before the war… so long ago now," he stared ahead, reliving lost memories.

"Did you once go with her to a planet called Ribos?" he looked at her suddenly, his eyes wide.

"How did you know that??" he gasped, staring at her. She had to laugh at him looking so confused.

"Remember when we went to the planet Jiston? The aliens knocked you out and threw us both in jail. While you were unconscious you started muttering and-"

"I sleep talk!?" Rose laughed again at his ridiculous expression.

"You did then, and you said something about someone called Romana and a planet called Ribos. I didn't hear much but I did hear that."

"What else did I say?" he asked nervously.

"Nothing else, relax. _Anyway_," she tried to move on, even though he still looked uncertain, "the point is, if you travelled with her, you must have been friends with her."

"We became friends."

"Then why did she tell you to leave like that? If she was any type of friend she wouldn't care about you being half human," he looked slightly angry at her for saying that for a second, but didn't say anything.

"She _was _a good friend," he said.

"Then why-"

"Rose, if you'd been told that your best friend was the same person that you'd been brought up believing was bad and shouldn't have been born and it was in your upbringing to hate them, then you'd say something like that to them too."

"But-"

"Think about it this way. Pretend you found out one day that I was actually a mass murderer and liked to kill people in my spare time? Despite what you think I'm sure you'd go off me just a little bit," she was about to say something, but decided against it. "Exactly," he said, "and besides, she didn't stay mad for long. It was _her _who convinced the Time Lords to let me back into the war. She was a great friend, so don't go saying she wasn't," he gave her a stern look, followed by a quick smile. They sat in silence for a few moments, until the Doctor looked down at her to find she was picking at one of the burns on the back of her hand. He wondered idly why humans always seemed to do things like that, then jumped off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Rose asked as she watched him walk across the room. He picked a few things up off the table, walked back to her and dumped them on the bed next to her.

"I'm going to be a Doctor," he said, with a childlike smile on his face. She laughed, as he put on his glasses and pulled out and sonic screwdriver, running it up and down her body. "Let's see…" he put on a very deep, mature voice that didn't really suit him all that much, "severe burns, surface wounds, fractured arm, slight bruising of the kidney…" Rose giggled as he whirred the screwdriver in her face then ran it back down her body, continuing his stream of injuries, half of which he'd probably made up. "All in all, my diagnosis…" he looked at her, whipping of his glasses, "just need a bit of TLC," she giggled again as he put away his sonic screwdriver and picked up some cream and bandages.

"Dr. Tom," she said jokily, but as soon as she said it she expected him to go silent and moody, but instead he gave her a cheeky grin through his glasses. She smiled in relief as he squeezed out some of the cream into his palm, and picked up her hand. She was just wearing a t-shirt now, and he gently began to rub in the cool cream over the burnt skin. Shivers ran up her arm as his skin touched hers, his soft hands softly massaging the cream across her arm.

"Better?" he asked, and for a few seconds she didn't even notice he'd spoke; she was so lost in her own world.

"Oh, yeah, brilliant," she said, slightly flushed. He glanced up at her over his glasses, then looked back down again. He squeezed out some more cream and started on the other arm. Rose didn't know why, but for some reason she found something so romantic about this. His hands slid down her arm to her hand, and linked his fingers with hers. She almost had to laugh at herself. Had it always been this obvious that he loved her? Had she always made it this obvious?

For the next hour seemed to fly past as she was lost in her own world, with just her and the Doctor.

xxx

After and uncertain amount of time of him healing her wounds, she sat on the bed flexing her fingers. He'd used some sort of machine to fix her arm, which had 'remoulded the bone structure by melting the cells back into the original formation using heat, pressure and ultrasound.' Or something like that.

Her arm tingled slightly, and she had a strange feeling in her torso where he'd done something to fix her bruised kidney. It was weird, but a strangely nice feeling at the same time.

She opened her mouth and let out a long yawn. The Doctor looked over his shoulder at her from the other side of the room, where he was putting the equipment away.

"Tired?" he said casually.

"God yeah," she muttered.

"Not surprised."

"Yeah…" she leant down on the bed, putting her legs up and lying on her side. It wasn't a normal bed, it was a rather stiff black mattress in the shape of a body, but it was surprisingly comfortable. She put her hands under her head and watched through heavy eyes as the Doctor put the last of the equipment away.

"You should probably get to bed," she heard him say, his voice seeming to echo slightly, "You've had a long day…" his voice trailed off as her eyes gently fluttered closed.

"I'll just finish here then…" he looked around and saw Rose fast asleep on the bed. He blinked. "Or, you know, you could always just sleep here, if you want…" he said to himself, wondering how someone can get to sleep so quickly. He put the bandage in his hand on the counter and walked over to her.

When he reached the bed, he placed his hand gently on her cheek, watching her as she slept so peacefully. He wiped some stands of hair from her face, tucking them behind her ear. Gradually, his smile began to fall as he knew what would happen soon.

He turned around and pulled a chair up to the bed, and sat on it. He watched her, as he listened to the quiet sound of her rhythmic breathing. She looked so peaceful, like that. So beautiful.

He watched her for ages; he wasn't sure how long, time seemed to disappear from the world. He too disappeared from the world, lost in his own thoughts and feelings, wondering through long lost memories never to be relived. His mind wondered back to his childhood, what had happened to his parents. What had happened to him while he'd been growing up in the orphanage, and in adulthood. What had happened to him when he'd lost his son. Not even he knew what had happened then. Maybe now he'd find out, but in some ways he hoped he didn't. He wondered if she would ever know what had happened to him, all those years ago. What he'd seen, what he'd been through. As much as she wanted to know, he hoped she never found out.

He thought back to after the war, when every night he'd slept he had dreams, horrible, graphic dreams as if he was there again, sometimes more real than reality. He went through phases where he didn't know what was real and what was not, where he thought he was back in the war then thought it was over. Sometimes he thought the real world was just a dream he was having, when in reality the war was going on around him. Then when he met Rose, that all changed. She was too good to be true and he was certain reality was a dream. He smiled slightly at this memory, before wondering if Rose would have dreams like he did, and how bad they would be.

Then he saw it. A twitch in her face, as the dream started. She started to breathe faster, as she muttered fearful words.

"Rose!" he called to her, but she didn't respond. The dream seemed to get worse, as she started to move. "Rose, wake up!" he shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders. She started to cry and shout, as tears escaped from her eyes. "Rose!" he shouted again, and her eyes suddenly snapped open. She looked around in surprise, shaking slightly. "You ok?" he asked quietly, as she pushed herself into a sitting position.

"It was…" she whispered, looking around.

"A dream, yes," the Doctor said, completing her sentence for her. She calmed down.

"I didn't even know I'd fallen asleep," she said, smiling. He smiled back, but only for a second.

"What happened?" he asked, and she looked at him. "In your dream, what happened?"

"It's like…" she paused for a second, thinking through her answer. "It was like I was in the war again, reliving it. "It was horrible," she whispered, and the Doctor just nodded sympathetically. Then a new thought struck her. "Was it like that for you? Did you have nightmares?" she asked. He stared at her for a second with sad eyes, before giving a small nod. She sniffed, pulling her legs up towards her and wrapping her arms around her knees. The Doctor watched her sadly, then stood up and sat on the bed next to her.

"Come here," he whispered, putting his arm around her. She gratefully leaned into him, shifter her body closer towards his. He rested his arm round her shoulders, holding her close, almost protectively. She rested her head against his chest, and listened to the rhythmic beating of his hearts. She wondered for a second if she should tell him now, tell him how she felt, but she decided not to. She wasn't sure why, but it just didn't seem right. It wasn't the right moment. But then again, it probably never would be, there would always be something that could be better.

Before she could carry on that train of thought much longer, she found herself slipping back into unconsciousness as tiredness gripped her, and her eyelids fluttered closed again. She cuddled up slightly closer to the Doctor, enjoying just being so close to him, before finally falling into a peaceful sleep.


	19. Flashback

This chapter is surprisingly long, considering very little actually happens. But the pace picks up again next chapter xD Read, enjoy, and please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Jack wondered through the corridors of the seemingly empty TARDIS. Last night he'd told Rose to tell the Doctor she loved him, and naturally he wanted to know what had happened. Except there was one problem: he couldn't find them.

He'd looked in each of their bedrooms, the various living rooms and other rooms which didn't seem to have a name, he'd checked the control room and he'd even checked the kitchen. Why was everyone so hard to find in the TARDIS? He seemed to spend his whole time looking for people.

He passed the door to the med bay, shrugged, and decided to take a look. He quietly opened the door, and when he saw what was inside, a smile came to his face.

Rose and the Doctor were both fast asleep on one of the beds, in each other's arms. Rose's head was resting against the Doctor's chest and his head was resting on top of hers. The Doctor had his arms wrapped around her, and she had hers resting against his body. They both looked so peaceful together, Jack decided to abandon his original idea of yelling 'wake up' very very loudly at them.

Instead, he walked out of the room and quietly closed the door behind him. He grinned contently to himself, as he walked back down the corridor.

xxx

When Rose and the Doctor had woken up, it had been a bit of a scary (not to mention embarrassing) moment when they realised they had fallen asleep in each other's arms, but it had quickly passed as they'd both walked back to their rooms with a stupid great smile that neither knew the other had to get ready for the day.

Rose was sat on the chair opposite her dressing table brushing her matted hair. It was horribly dirty from yesterday and was in bad need of a wash, but she knew the Doctor was eager to get back to Gallifrey and get the parts he needed. So she just brushed and decided it looked acceptable. She quickly applied some make up, put on some clean clothes and walked out of her room.

The Doctor calmly got dressed, putting on a new, clean suit, with a small smile on his face. Anyone watching wouldn't know that he was dancing inside. He picked up a tie and walked to his mirror and tied it round his neck. He took a quick look at himself, ruffling his greasy hair before walking out of his room, a spring in his step.

Rose and the Doctor conveniently met in the corridor, and continued on their way to the control room, hand in hand.

xxx

Jack sat in the control room on the chair, resting his legs up on the edge of the consol. He was fiddling with his wrist device, trying to get it to work properly; it had been bashed in the war and he had been trying to fix it. But what he was really waiting for was Rose and The Doctor.

He didn't have to wait long though, since at that moment the door opened and in they came, hand in hand. He looked round at them, and grinned when he saw them. He jumped out of his seat and started walking towards them, ready to make some quip about how they were finally together.

But Rose seemed to realise this and quickly shook her head, flashing him a warning look. He blinked at her, slightly confused. The Doctor looked down at her to see what Jack was staring at, but she just smiled back up at him.

"Anyway!" said Jack suddenly, bringing the Doctor out from his confusion, "Where are we going? Gallifrey?"

"Yep!" the Doctor said enthusiastically, letting go of Rose's hand and running up to the consol. As he started to input the destination, Jack quickly went to Rose.

"You didn't tell him??" he hissed, making sure that the Doctor didn't hear. Rose quickly shook her head. Before Jack could launch into a long speech, the TARDIS suddenly shook.

"That wasn't good," the Doctor said, looking around himself. There was another sudden shake, more violent this time. The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out and put it between his teeth, before lifting a piece of grating off the floor and swinging himself down beneath the consol. Jack looked back to Rose.

"Why not?!" he asked urgently, still keeping his voice low.

"I don't know! It just didn't seem right," she whispered back. He let out a long sigh.

"Rose, if you want it to be perfect it'll never be right!"

"I know," she said wearily, looking away from Jack.

"If you don't hurry up then I'll tell him," Jack warned, and Rose suddenly spun round, eyes wide.

"No!" she gasped, just remembering to keep her voice down.

"Well if you're not going to tell him…" Jack said jokingly, but Rose knew that behind the joke he was actually being serious.

"Don't you dare," she said darkly.

"Hurry up and tell him then!" Jack replied, just as the Doctor pulled himself back up. They both looked at him and smiled, but he was paying more attention to the TARDIS than them.

"Come on old girl you can do it," he encouraged to the ship, pressing buttons with one hand and stroking the panels with the other. There was another shake, as the engines died down. "Yes!" he said happily, lightly slapping the consol, then running back to Rose and Jack. "Coming?" he asked, holding his hand out. Rose smiled and took it. "Jack? What about you?" he asked, expecting a yes.

"Um actually I've got some stuff I need to do," he said, quickly forming an excuse in his head, "I need to fix this thing," he held up his wrist, "I think it's broken. You go with Rose." The Doctor looked slightly surprised and disappointed at the same time; he never thought Jack would say no to a possible adventure. He shook it off.

"Ok then, see you when we get back," he said lightly, walking across the room to the doors, with Rose in toe. As they reached the doors, Rose quickly looked back at Jack, who gave her an encouraging look, before walking out of the doors onto Gallifrey.

xxx

Rose looked out over the deserts as she and the Doctor walked down a path on the edge of the village, as the Doctor ticked the last item they brought off his mental checklist.

"I think that's everything," he said, looking thoughtfully to the sky, "I just need one more piece, but it's not available at the time, we'll have to go forward a few years before we can get it. Shouldn't be too hard…" Rose wasn't really listening; instead she was trying to decide how she would tell him. It was getting harder and harder for her to resist the urge to just lean up and kiss him. She desperately wanted to tell him, she just didn't know how.

She watched the desert as the wind blew up grains of sand, whipping them around in a circle. She remembered back when she was a little kid at school and the wind would do the same thing to the leaves, and they'd all stand in the middle of the spiral of leaves and pretend they were in a tornado. She was brought back to reality as the Doctor's voice faded back to her, with him saying something about what year they would need to go to. She noticed that at some point they'd stopped walking. The wind played with the sand, and she had a sudden childish urge to do so too, like she used to on the beach. She looked back at the Doctor, who was rambling on about what type of hydrogen oxidator they'd need and when they could get it from, and decided that she really didn't care about what every it was he was on about and walked off onto the sand.

Her feet sunk into the soft sand as she stepped on it, the grains blowing out behind her as she lifted her feet. She knelt down and put her hand into the warm sand, lifting out handful of it. She watched intently as the grains flowed through her fingers, blowing out across the ground as they fell through the air. It was warm and soft to touch, more so than any sand she'd ever seen on Earth. She realised that the Doctor probably never quite appreciated how fun sand could be, having grown up with it around him constantly. Growing up in London meant that the few visits that she did get to the beach were like heaven.

She looked up at the Doctor as she rested her hands down on the sand, and watched for a few seconds as he carried on rambling about hydrogen oxidators, or whatever he was talking about now. Had he not even notice that she'd gone?

A sly smile came to her face, and she picked up a handful of sand in her cupped hands, and started to run over to him. As she approached him she heard he was still thinking aloud about parts for the TARDIS, and wondered briefly how one person could talk about something for so long. She crept up behind him, surprised that he hadn't noticed her yet. She half expected him to turn around suddenly and say 'don't you even think about pouring that sand down my back,' but he didn't.

She walked up close behind up and lifted her hands. She positioned them directly above his head, then let go.

He screamed as he felt a sudden pile of sand land on the top of his head and work its way down his head and his neck. Rose shrieked in laughter as she watched him ruffling his hair frantically trying get the sand out, as the grains fell down his neck and down his back in his suit. He reached round behind him and tried pointlessly to remove the grains.

"Rose!" he yelled angrily, but all she could do was laugh. "I'm _so _going to get you for that!" he warned, not being able to sound serious for a second. She ran back out onto the desert as he ran after her, scooping handfuls of sand as he went and throwing them at her. They didn't get very near her, but he didn't particularly care. She spun around and tried to throw handfuls at him, which too just blew away in the wind. But this didn't stop them from trying.

Rose hid behind a sand dune, running her hands through her hair to try to remove the grains. Now her hair _really _needed a wash. She heard the Doctor running towards her, and looked behind her at the sand dune. It wasn't particularly steep, she could probably climb in. And that's exactly what she did.

She struggled up the dune, her hands clawing into the dusty sand as it fell away beneath her. The Doctor stood at the bottom and laughed as he watched her climb up it, then decided to run after her.

Rose finally reached the top of the sand dune, but instead of picking up a handful of sand and throwing it at the Doctor as she'd been planning, she instead stopped, and looked out over the village. It was similar to the one the Doctor had grown up in, but wasn't the same one. From up here she could see the whole of it, every building, even a few people here and there. The buildings were mostly houses, but there were a few bigger ones.

The Doctor finally stood up next to her, and looked out over the village too, but he didn't quite find it as interesting as Rose did. They'd arrived near the end of the day, and the sun was beginning to set. It burnt bright orange near the horizon, as brilliant blue and purple streaks spread out across the sky, gradually fading into black. Rose could see a few stars beginning to shine, and what she guessed was a moon, even though it was orange.

"It's beautiful," she said, looking out at the sky.

"You say that everywhere I take you," the Doctor muttered.

"That's 'cause it's true!" she laughed, nudging him. They grinned at each other for a second, before their grins fell to warm smiles. The Doctor took Rose's hand in his, and they both looked out over the village. "Have you ever been here before?" she asked. There was a pause, as he looked over the city with sad eyes, and she looked up at him.

"Once," he said eventually, his eyes glazed over.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

The Doctor ran up the stairs of the crumbling building, his hands aching from the gun he was carrying. He ran through a door that simply fell off its hinges and clattered to the floor.

"Go go go!" he yelled, as the troops behind him spread out across the room. In front of them were large windows looking out over the devastation in front of them. He ran across the room next to one of the windows, putting his back against the wall. He looked over at the woman on the other side of the window, and nodded.

They both looked out through the glass, over the fire and death below. "Where's the TARDIS?" the Doctor hissed to himself. He looked back at the people behind him. "We need to go hirer!" he ordered, and they started to head back for the door.

Before they got very far, there was a sudden explosion from outside and they were all knocked to the floor. They quickly stood back up, and started heading for the door again.

"Look!" gasped the woman who had been looking out the window, pointing towards the ground. They gathered back round the glass, staring in horror and confusion at the scene below them.

Spreading through the burning streets was a purple gas, like nothing they'd ever seen before. The people on the ground started to run from it, crying and choking as they stumbled over the ground. Those who couldn't run fast enough got caught and inhaled the poisonous fumes. All the Doctor or any of the others could do was stare as those unfortunate people started gasping and choking, clutching their throats as the gas entered their lungs. They fell to their knees as the gas entered their bloodstream and spread the poison through their body. Their skin started to turn grey as it blistered and stretched, ripping and falling from their body. Thick, discoloured blood started to cover their body as they fell to the ground, shaking, their bodies' withering.

"What the hell is that?" whispered someone from behind the Doctor. He watched as the gas continued to flow and began to rise as it filled the streets.

"The new Dalek weapon," he answered, staring numbly at the scene below him.

The floor shook again suddenly, as the group looked around anxiously. The Doctor cocked his gun, and the rest followed suit. They looked up suddenly as they saw Daleks flying through the sky towards the building. They quickly backed away from the window as the Daleks swooped towards them, metallic cries of 'exterminate' ringing through their heads.

Before they had time to act the window shattered and Daleks began to fill the crowded room. After that all to be heard was the firing of guns and lasers. Blinded by the bright light, they tried to push their way out of the room back into the corridor, as the Daleks smashed through the walls. The floors wobbled beneath them as the building weakened.

The Doctor ran out into another room, breathing heavily. A few more people ran in after him, but not enough. He cursed himself for leaving the others and not staying to help them, but before he could go back the doors and walls fell down as more Daleks smashed through.

They scattered and ran haphazardly through separate doors, as individual Daleks chased after them.

The Doctor threw himself through a door and ran madly across the room as he heard the Dalek flying after him, its deadly cry echoing in his ears. He threw himself through another door then another, until he found himself in another room with a large window overlooking the village.

But he didn't get time to find another way out, as the Dalek crashed through the wall behind him. He didn't dare to stop, he just carried on running, straight to the window.

He braced himself as he jumped into the air and smashed through the window, the shards of glass cutting his burnt skin. He covered his head and held his breath as he fell to the ground, towards the deadly purple mist.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

The Doctor stared into the distance, and Rose decided it was probably better not to ask what he was thinking about. Instead she looked back out over the village, as the sun began to hide behind the horizon. She heard the Doctor sigh, and knew she probably should change the subject now, but there was still something she desperately wanted to know.

"What actually happened in the end?" She asked quietly, "In the final battle, what happened to them all?" For a moment the Doctor didn't answer, but she didn't mind waiting. She'd wait all eternity if necessary.

"The Daleks were winning. There were so few Time Lords by now, and the Daleks could just multiply and multiply. I'd been exiled, and by the time Romana had told me I could come back, they were in desperate need of something, some idea, to beat the Daleks. They'd called the remaining Time Lords that weren't on the planet to a meeting. They'd decided that the only hope they had left was to go back in time to ancient Gallifrey and call on the ancient Time Lords. See, the history of Gallifrey is in two halves - Ancient Gallifrey and Modern Gallifrey. Well, I guess now there is no Gallifrey, but before that there these 2 halves, and it was forbidden to travel in time through Gallifrey's past, and completely unheard of to go to ancient Gallifrey.

But they were losing to the Daleks and had no choice, so were planning to go to ancient Gallifrey. So all the Time Lords had gathered in one place to discuss it, but the Daleks found out and were planning on attacking the ship. By the time I'd got back to the war the Dalek attack was underway. Romana managed to speak to me. She said that I was the only person that could do anything, and if I could do anything I had to do it, otherwise the Daleks would win," he paused, staring ahead. His voice dropped. "I had minutes to think. I knew that soon the Daleks would come and kill me, and I had to think of something fast. There was only one way to stop them, but it meant the Time Lords would have to die too. I tried to find a different way, but the Daleks found me and were coming..." he paused again, and his eyes flicked down to the floor. "I jettisoned the Eye of Harmony into Gallifrey's sun creating a supernova. Gallifrey and all the Time Lord and Dalek ships were caught in it and destroyed. I expected to be killed too, but I was too far away from it. I watched as the ships were burnt and destroyed, and waited for it to reach me. Except when it got to me, it wasn't strong enough to destroy the TARDIS. It almost destroyed it, causing enough damage for me to have to regenerate, but I still lived, while everyone else died." A solemn silence passed between them.

"It wasn't your fault," Rose said. He looked across to her. "You did what you had to do, you had no choice." He have her a slight smile, but it didn't last long. "Don't feel guilty," she said quietly. He looked at her silently, then looked back out to the village in front of them. Rose sighed and looked back out as well.

He would never tell her, but since he saved her life on the Gamestation, he hadn't felt so guilty. He knew that if he told her he died for her she'd feel guilty, so he'd never told her. But since then he'd been happier, less plagued by the war and his past. A smile came to his lips.

xxx

Jack sat alone in the control room, getting very angry at his wrist device. It was refusing to work, and to make matters worse rose and the doctor had been gone for ages and he wanted to know what was happening. He sighed and shifted in his seat. If they were gone for much longer he'd have to go out and find them.

Suddenly there was a beeping from the consol, and he walked over to the screen. He frowned at the unreadable Gallifreyan symbols flashing across the screen. He decided that he'd better tell the doctor, and headed for the door.

At least this would give him an excuse to go find them.


	20. Good Times Bad Times

Wow! Chapter 20! And I'm not even anywher near done with this story yet... which I hope makes everyone happy and not think 'oh god not more'.

Lots of angst in this chapter, but no where near the amount there will be in the next chapter! And of course, the review rule always applies...

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Rose laughed at the Doctor as he rambled on about what time and place they would need to go to next. She'd made the mistake of asking him what parts they still needed and now he was back on about different times on Gallifrey, making bizarre jokes that she couldn't help but laugh at.

"I hope you know that I've got no clue what you're on about," Rose laughed.

"I know, I know," he sighed. Then Rose thought of something else she wanted to know. She didn't want to bring it up, but he might never tell her otherwise.

"You never said," she started, as he looked over at her with a smile on his face, "How did your parents die?" much to her relief, he didn't instantly go silent and moody, he just gave her a bit of a pained look and said:

"I'm not going to tell you, Rose," she sighed and he almost laughed. "I'd have thought you'd have guessed that by now."

"Yeah, but why won't you tell me?"

"I'm not going to, Rose," he said defiantly. She sighed.

"Fine," she muttered. "I'm going to find out eventually."

"No you won't." She smiled to herself. They were silent for a few more minutes, as they looked out at the night sky. It was mostly black with dark purple streaks, with the stars shining brightly like diamonds on black satin. Rose looked over to the Doctor, who was also looking up to the sky. Thoughts of what would have happened had the Doctor died came back to her, and she found herself imagining a world, a life without the Doctor. She wondered what it would have been like, what she and Jack would have done. There was no way she could possibly imagine life without the Doctor. She watched him for a while, as he looked to the sky, lost in his thoughts.

"You're staring at me," he said suddenly, looking down at her. She blinked in surprise, not realising that he'd known she was watching him.

"Uh…" she said, not sure of what else to say. He gave her a smile.

"I don't mind you staring at me," he laughed, and she giggled. She shook her head, looking to the ground. Her smile gradually faded as she thought again about life without the Doctor. He seemed to notice this, and lifted her chin with his hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as she looked up at him through shining eyes. She shook her head again and looked away. "Come on, tell me," he asked again, trying to face her.

"Nothing," she said quietly. He gave her a doubtful look. She sighed: she knew she couldn't keep anything from him. "I was just thinking, that's all."

"About what?" Rose sighed again, as she tried to think of an answer.

"About what would have happened if you died," she said honestly, looking back up at him. "What I would have done without you." The Doctor's smile faded for a second, but he quickly smiled again.

"You don't have to worry about me," he said.

"But you could have died!" she argued, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "Then what? Would me and Jack have been left in the war?"

"No," he said quickly, cutting her off. "I wouldn't let that happen."

"It's not like you could stop it."

"I'd find a way," she laughed disbelievingly, looking away from him. He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek and brought her back to look at him. "I promise," he said, "I wouldn't have left you there. Not you," a spark of emotion flashed in his eyes, and for the first time Rose knew what it was. She looked out to the sky, as he still watched her. Now, she thought, tell him.

"Doctor," she said quietly, trying to think of how to say it, "do you…" she paused. God, she was bad at this.

"Yes?" he prompted. She smiled at how stupid she was being, and tried to carry on.

"Do you…" she licked her lips apprehensively. She knew if she was watching this she'd probably want to kick herself. She finally managed to just say it. "Do you love me?"

The Doctor blinked, his soft expression suddenly replaced by one of infinite confusion.

"What?" he said, his brow furrowed. Rose had to laugh.

"Do you love me?" she repeated, trying to stifle her giggles.

"Where did this come from?" he asked, his expression quite hilarious. Rose found it hard to be serious.

"When we were in the war and they were trying to save you, I was kneeling next to the bed and… you said that you loved me," he blinked a few more times at her, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"I… said that?" he asked in a high voice, sounding very nervous. She nodded. "Oh," he said, his mouth still open, "um, I, um, I didn't mean it, you know, like, love, I meant, as friends, you know, and, um…" he looked around them, trying to avoid her eyes. Rose giggled as she watched him desperately try to come up with an excuse.

"Doctor," she said, and he looked at her.

"Yeah?" he replied, still evidently trying to think of an excuse. But he didn't need one.

At that moment Rose leant up to him and pressed her lips to his, taking him completely by surprise. She lifted her arms and wrapped them round his neck. He stood still for a moment, completely stunned, before hesitantly resting his hands on her hips.

Finally Rose pulled away, looking at his surprised face. She smiled warmly.

"I love you too," she whispered, and his confused expression gradually changed, as a smile played on his lips.

"Yeah?" he said, not believing his luck.

"Yeah," she replied, and his smile became a grin.

"Oh good," he joked, and she shook her head. His grin softened, and he leant down and kissed her gently.

They deepened the kiss, as Rose slipped her hands into his hair and he slid his round her back. And all that existed in the world was the two of them.

xxx

Jack walked through the paths of the village, annoyed. He'd been looking for over 10 minutes now and he couldn't find them. He looked at his wrist device again, shaking it. The tracking system wasn't working and he couldn't use it to find them. He angrily hit it against a wall next to him, wondering afterwards why he'd done that, as all it did was hurt his arm.

Then there was a beep from the device, and a map appeared on it with two flashing dots.

"Oh," he said to himself in surprise, then smiled and started to follow the dots on the screen.

xxx

Jack started to get suspicious that the tracking system was actually working when it began to lead him onto the desert by the village. He doubtfully followed the directions, walking through various sand dunes. Soon he found himself completely surrounded by sand, and was about to give up and walk back into the village when he saw some brown material poking out from one of the dunes in front of him. He grinned, and started to head towards what he assumed was the Doctor's coat.

He walked around the sand dune so he was standing in front of them. They were sitting on the ground, leaning against the sand behind them, arms wrapped around each other, kissing.

They quickly separated as he walked in front of them, and looked up at him.

"Hope I'm not interrupting something," he said quickly, a cheeky grin on his face. They both stifled a smile, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Hello Jack," the Doctor replied, at a loss of what else to say.

"Hello love birds," he replied, then looked at Rose. "It's about time," he said, and she looked away with an embarrassed laugh. Before the Doctor could ask what Jack meant, he had already started talking. "The TARDIS started beeping, but I don't know why. You'd better come and look, providing you're done here…?" the Doctor snorted, and stood up, helping Rose up too. They started to head back to the TARDIS, Rose and the Doctor hand in hand.

"THERE he is!" they spun round suddenly at the sound of a familiar voice, and were rather surprised to see Deb storming towards them, with Eta running after her, looking rather scared.

"What?" the Doctor gasped, looking between them both. Deb walked right up in front of him, pointing at him.

"You are going to tell me EXACTLY how we die!" she demanded. The Doctor was completely speechless.

"Deb…" Eta said, trying to reason with her.

"Shut up!" she yelled, cutting him off. She looked back at the Doctor, her eyes blazing. "Tell me!" she ordered.

"What?" he said again, as it seemed to be the only word that fitted this situation.

"I am NOT having my son grow up like that!" she shouted, as the Doctor began to back away in fear. "Now tell me how we die!"

"Deb-" he tried to reason, but didn't get very far.

"And don't call me that!" she ordered. He blinked at her.

"Then what do I call you?"

"Call me 'mum'." He just stared at her. "I'm your mum aren't I? So call me that!"

"Deb, listen…"

"Call me mum!" she yelled. He backed away slightly further.

"Ok, um, mum…" he said awkwardly. It seemed so weird him saying 'mum'. "Um, I can't tell you, cause…." He paused for a second. "Hang on, how did you even find me here??"

"We tracked you with my TARDIS," Eta said quickly.

"Stop changing the subject!" Deb yelled.

"Why do you want to know how you die?" the Doctor asked, frowning.

"Then we can stop it!" she answered, "If we don't die we can look after you _properly_. I don't want my son to have the life she described!" Deb pointed at Rose, who suddenly felt terribly guilty. The Doctor shook his head.

"You don't understand," he said, "you can't change it 'cause it's already happened. If I told you and you tried to change history it would cause a paradox," he could see from Deb's expression that she clearly didn't care about paradoxes.

"I don't care!" she said, backing up the Doctor's guess. "Just tell me!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?!" The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes. "What if it doesn't mess up time?" Deb suggested, her voice becoming steadier, "what if this is meant to happen, and we're meant to stop it?"

"But it's already happened," the Doctor countered, "You can't stop something that's already happened." Deb didn't seem to know what to say, and instead she just shook her head.

"I don't care about paradoxes," she said, "I'm going to find out what happened and I'm going to change it!"

"I already told you, you can't!"

"I don't _care_!" she screamed, shaking with anger. Then she decided to take another route. "Let me tell you something," she said, walking towards the Doctor, "when you have children, you'd do anything for them, you'd do anything to help them no matter what the consequences."

"I _know_!" the Doctor said suddenly, "I've had children, been through all that."

"Then you wouldn't care about paradoxes either if it meant you could save your child!" The Doctor was speechless, as Deb stared him down. "If you could stop it, if you could give your child a better life, would you care about paradoxes?" she asked. The Doctor didn't answer for a long time, as he simply stared, trying to form words.

"It wouldn't work anyway," he said eventually, "you couldn't stop it even if you knew."

"Tell me then!" Deb insisted.

"_No_!"

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"TELL ME!"

"Giving birth!" he yelled angrily, and she was stunned into silence. "You died giving birth to me because your body couldn't handle giving birth to an alien baby. Humans and Gallifreyans _aren't meant _to interbreed, and… it just didn't work," he looked at her with a sadness in his eyes that she knew went deeper than she could imagine, "I never even knew you," he said quietly.

Her gaze fell from him to the ground, as she wrapped her arms round her midriff. Eta slowly walked up next to her and put his arms round her shoulders. She looked up at the Doctor.

"You sure there's nothing that could stop it?" she asked hopefully, but she solemnly nodded his head. She looked away, the realization that she couldn't do anything to help her son dawning on her. "What about Eta?" she asked, looking back up at the Doctor. Surely even if nothing could be done to save her, he could be saved.

The Doctor's expression suddenly changed dramatically.

"We've got to go now," he said quickly, before turning round and starting to walk away. Deb stared at him.

"What?" she gasped.

"Rose, Jack, we're going," he said, walking past them. They hesitantly followed him as he walked away.

"Hang on!" Deb shouted to them, "you can't go!" she started to run after them, followed by Eta. She ran in front of the Doctor, blocking his path.

"Tell me what happened," she demanded, "even if we can't stop my death we might be able to do something for Eta."

"No," he said forcefully, then walked past her. She watched with wide eyes as he strode past, Rose and Jack almost having to run to keep up with him.

"Oh no you don't," she muttered, running after him.

xxx

All the way back to the TARDIS, she'd been yelling and demanding answers, and so far hadn't got any. Eta, instead of trying to calm her down had also taken to demanding to know from the Doctor what happens to him.

The Doctor angrily pulled the doors of the TARDIS open, striding up to the consol. Deb and Eta pushed through after him, running up next to him. He looked up at them.

"I'm going to leave, so you'd better get going," he said, keeping his calm surprisingly well.

"No!" Deb insisted, "We're not going until you tell us."

"Don't you get it?" he yelled suddenly, "I'm not going to tell you. So just go!"

"No!" he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Tom, tell me," Deb demanded. Rose could see the Doctor cringe as she said his name.

"No," he said simply.

"Just tell us!"

"No!" he said, more forcefully. "What part of 'no' don't you understand?" This time Eta led the argument.

"If you tell us we can help you," he said, more emotion in his voice then he let out.

"No you can't!" the Doctor shouted, "You should understand this, you're from Gallifrey!" he turned back, to the consol, then back to Eta. "Why do you want to know how you die anyway?" he asked, "I'd hate to know how I'm going to die!"

"It doesn't matter," Eta said calmly, "if it means I can change this." The Doctor stared, speechless. "I don't care about the consequences." The Doctor didn't know what to say.

"You'd risk all that, you'd risk paradoxes and the Time Lords and you'd know how you're going to die… just for me?" he asked, unbelieving.

"Of course," Eta said, "I love you, no matter what." The Doctor's mouth opened as he tried to find something to say, but he failed to say anything, and closed it again. He repeated this a few times.

Rose moved slightly so she could see the Doctor's face, and when she did she saw something in his expression, in his eyes, showing something deep down, but she didn't know what.

"Do you _really _want to know?" he asked, and they nodded. But he didn't talk, his eyes flicked to the floor as he wondered through long lost memories.

"Why do you really not want to tell us?" asked Deb, "It's more than paradoxes and rules… what is it?" the Doctor looked up at her, his eyes full of sadness.

"Because it hurts," he said quietly. Deb took a few steps towards him.

"Tell us then," she said. He looked up at her, then towards Eta, a new emotion flashing through his eyes.

"Do you want to know?" he asked again, "Do you _really _want to know how you die?" It took everyone by surprise when he said it with anger in his voice. He'd looked so vulnerable before; it was a surprise to see him suddenly angry.

"Yes," Eta said. The Doctor took a few steps back, glaring at him.

"Ok then," he said, folding his arms. "I'll tell you." The next words he spat with so much venom and anger that the way he said it shocked everyone almost more than what he said. "You killed yourself."


	21. Orphaned

That was a pretty evil cliffie, wasn't it? MWHAHA. This chapter is much shorter than the others, chocked full of angst, angst and more angst, and, well, pretty much nothing else. So you have been warned - it's angsty! I'll try to make the next chapter a bit more fluffy, yeah?

The Doctor is really out of character in this, but he's MEANT to be! He's talking about one of the most emotional times of his life, he's going to get a bit angry, so before you say he was out of charater, I know!

With the flashbacks, imagine the Doctor is explaining what happens while we see the flashback. And I called him as a child Tom, because, well, his name _is _Tom.

And for anyone who doesn't know, a Gallifreyan year is the same length as an Earth year.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

The room went completely silent at the Doctor's words, even the sounds of the TARDIS softening. They stared in disbelief, but he stared at Eta with a deep hatred in his eyes.

"I was five," he said, "five years old. And I'd made the stupid mistake of thinking things were getting better." Eta felt empty as he listened to the anger in his son's words. The Doctor gave him a sarcastic smile. "You know when I said Gallifrey would be fine with a half-human child?" he asked, his smile fading, "I lied. You spent every minute of your life fighting for us, 'cause what you'd done was so against the law and so outrageous by the time I was a year old the whole planet had heard about it. And everyone hated us. _Everyone_."

He walked towards Eta, who instinctively took a few steps back. "They hated you for having this freak of nature, this child who shouldn't exist. And they hated me for being that child. I wasn't meant to exist, and they wanted me dead. You fought night and day for them to not take me away, for them not to arrest you, spent your whole time in court. I wasn't meant to know what was happening, but I did. I knew what they wanted. Do you know what it's like knowing that society wants you dead?" he paused, waiting for his words to sink in. He didn't have to wait long.

"You came home one night, totally drunk, completely out of it. I'd been home on my own while you were out at a court case. I thought it was just a normal day, like any other. Ooh was I wrong..."

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

Tom walked hesitantly down the stairs as he watched his father burst through the front door, stumbling across the room, propping himself up against the wall. He had a bottle in his hand, and took a long swig from it. Tom watched through the banister anxiously, with no idea as to what was going on. Eta didn't seem to notice him there as he reached into his pocket, took out a couple of pills and swallowed them.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"I found out what those pills were eventually," the Doctor said lightly, "they're used in hospitals to prevent regeneration. Available on the black-market, but bloody hard to get hold of. I don't know how you managed to get them, I never could when I tried." He paused for a second as Eta realised what this meant, before carrying on with his story.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

Eta put the bottle to his mouth again, downing the last few mouthfuls, before dropping the empty container to the floor. He then began to stumble back across the room. Tom, knowing that his father wasn't one to get in the way of when he was angry, turned around and ran up the stairs himself.

Tom ran across the small hallway and hid in his bare room as he heard his father stagger past the door. He timidly pushed the door slightly open, and saw Eta go into the bathroom. He knew better than to follow his father when he was in a mood, but he'd never seen him like this before and was curious. He stepped out of his room and started to head towards the bathroom. He tentatively poked his head through the door, and saw Eta fiddling shakily with something. But he didn't see what it was, as Eta suddenly looked up and saw him, and put whatever it was on the side, but knocked it into the sink.

"Tom!" he said with a mock politeness, "come on in," Tom slowly did as he was told, "I've got something to tell you," he said, "some advice to give you."

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"Funny," remarked the Doctor, "I never did follow your advice."

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"Come here, come on," Tom began to walk towards him, despite his instincts telling him to run. There was something different about his father today. Something different in his eyes – an energy that was never there before, a sort of manic, desperate energy. And it scared him. "Let me tell you something. Whatever they tell you to do… just do it. Don't rebel, don't even begin to question the rules, just do it. 'Cause if you don't you'll end up with those bloody Time Lords coming down on you like a ton of bricks, thinking they're so much better than everyone else."

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

The Doctor paused, a small smile coming to his face.

"I'm a Time Lord," he said, "And I'm proud of that no matter what you say." He gave him a smug smile, before carrying on.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

Tom frowned at what Eta had just said. He'd always thought of the Time Lords as good people… why did his father not like them?

"So just do as they say," he carried on, his words slurred, "'cause you'll regret it if you don't. Don't go and let aliens into a TARDIS, in fact don't even go to other planets. Just don't bother. No matter how ridiculous the rules seem… just follow them." Eta paused, while Tom watched him. "And whatever you do," he said, his voice a mixture of pain and anger, "_don't _fuck a human," Tom backed away at Eta's sudden outburst, "'cause you'll just end up with a retard child who can't bloody well do anything right and will end up costing you your freedom and your life," Tom watched his father in wonder and fear, as his tone became more desperate. "They've given me the death sentence. They're going to kill me tomorrow. But you know what?" he reached into the sink, and pulled out what he'd had in his hands before. Tom now realised what it was, and watched, numbed by fear, as his father held it to his head. "I'm not going to give them the pleasure," he said. "And do me a favour," he added, almost as an afterthought, "if they ever want to kill you too, if they ever try to…" he paused, looking down at his son with a lack of any love or affection, "don't give them the pleasure either," he said, then shot.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

Eta stared at the Doctor who stared back at him, overwhelming emotions flying round his head, showing through his eyes.

"That's how you died," he said in a small, shaking voice. They all stood for a few long moments in silence, until the Doctor turned and walked out the room.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

Tom screamed as the gunshot sliced through his mind and echoed in his head. He shook from the overpowering noise of the gun, as he saw Eta collapse in front of him. He stood stock still, numbed by fear and shock, his eyes falling to the ground as blood began to seep across the floor, towards him. He felt a shiver go through him as the warm liquid pooled around his feet, soaking into his skin. Ever so slowly he lifted up one foot, and felt the blood drip from his skin to the ground. Numbly, he began to walk forward, the blood rippling out with every step. He walked to the side of his father's body, and gasped when he saw his face.

His eyes were open and staring forward, dead. There were two holes in his head, one just under his chin and one on the side of his head, where the blood seeped from. Blood also dripped from his mouth, nose, ears and eyes. Tom almost choked in horror, as salty tears formed in his eyes and fell down his face. He tried to run away, but his feet slid in the blood and he fell to the ground. Shaking in fear, he pushed himself back to his feet and ran from the room, blood trailing behind him.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

The silence that filled the control room was so intense Rose felt that she'd give anything just to not be there anymore. Eta was staring at the ground, while Deb watched him, unsure herself what to think. Rose decided that the Doctor would probably need a bit of comforting right now. She was about to head to the door, when suddenly the Doctor walked in the room again. They all looked up at him in surprise, but he only seemed to acknowledge Eta and Deb. He watched them for a few moments, a strong sadness in his eyes. He was fiddling with something in his hands, but no one could see it until he lifted it up and pointed it at his parents.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, then pulled the trigger.


	22. Explanations

That really was a super evil cliffie wasn't it? I'm sorry for being so evil, I just couldn't help myself! To say sorry, I've given you a nice long chapter with no cliffie at the end! Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

xxx

Rose and Jack both gasped as a light shot out from the gun the Doctor was holding, covering Eta and Deb for a split second, before disappearing. For a second everything seemed to go in slow motion as their bodies fell to the floor. Jack and Rose stared with wide eyes in fear and confusion, then looked up at the Doctor, who was still looking down at his parents.

"What the hell did you do?!" Jack yelled, but the Doctor paid no attention to him. Instead he dropped the gun onto the chair and walked up to the consol. Jack and Rose watched in utter bewilderment as he calmly input a destination. "Well?" Jack demanded. The Doctor looked up at him for a second, then turned around and picked the gun up off the chair. He turned back to Jack, who flinched for a second as he raised the gun. The Doctor chucked the gun towards him, and he awkwardly caught it. He inspected it as the Doctor looked back to the consol. Jack sighed as a relieved smile came to his face. "You bloody know how to scare a guy," he said, shaking his head.

"What is it?" Rose asked, looking at the gun. Jack was turning it over and over in his hands.

"Memory eraser," he said, looking up at Rose. "Erases your memory."

"Never would have guessed," she muttered sarcastically. Jack grinned at her, then looked up at the Doctor. A thought hit the Doctor, and he looked up at them.

"What did you think it was?" he asked, referring to the gun.

"I thought you'd killed them!" said Jack. The Doctor stared at him in disbelief.

"After everything I said to them about paradoxes and not changing the past… you thought I'd then go and do something like that?" he asked. Jack shrugged.

"Didn't know what to think," he said. The Doctor rolled his eyes as Jack looked back at the gun. "How much did you erase?" he asked.

"Until just before we meet Deb," he said, concentrating back on the consol. "If we put them back in their bed, they'll wake up with a splitting headache and think they were out drinking or something. Hopefully." The TARDIS shook as it landed. "I hope I got that right…" the Doctor thought aloud, looking at the consol uncertainly, "haven't done that for a while…" he looked up at the doors, and ran across them room and walked out.

He looked around the room he'd just stepped into, as Rose and Jack followed him out. They too looked around with a slight sense of déjà vu.

"Are we in a TARDIS?" Rose asked, noticing the familiar sound of engines around her, slightly different to the Doctor's TARDIS, but still recognisable.

"Yep, it's Eta's TARDIS. We're back on Earth, where we dropped Deb off. I brought their TARDIS back here. This, I hope, is Eta and Deb's room."

"Looks like it," noted Jack, glancing at the various photos of them scattered across the surfaces.

"Come on, help me get them in bed," said the Doctor, walking back into the TARDIS. Rose and Jack followed after him.

xxx

Ten minutes later, Eta and Deb were sprawled across the bed. Jack arched his body back, putting his hands in the small of his back.

"My god they're heavier than they look," he complained. He looked at them both, and saw the Doctor looking around the room, an expression on his face that Jack couldn't quite desipher. "That everything?" he asked, and the Doctor nodded.

"Should be," he said, his voice sounding distant. Rose looked concerned, and Jack knew they needed to be alone.

"I'll see you in the TARDIS then," he said, the Doctor only giving a small nod of acknoledgement. He looked at Rose, then walked across and disappeared through the doors.

Rose and the Doctor stood in silence for a few seconds, before Rose spoke.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah. Fine." He said, but anyone could tell he was lying. She took his hand in hers, and gave it a squeeze. He looked down at her, and for a moment they just stared into each other's eyes, before the Doctor smiled and pulled her into a hug. They separated, and she leant into him as he put an arm around her shoulders. For a few moments, they stood in silence, looking at Eta and Deb as they slept peacefully, completely unaware of what was to follow.

"Could they have changed it?" Rose asked eventually, "If you'd have left them, could they have changed it?" she looked up at him, as a frown crosses his features.

"Maybe," he said quietly.

"Then why didn't you let them?" she asked, pulling away to look at him, "You could have had a better life!"

"But I wouldn't have done!" he argued, "even if Eta hadn't have done that, it still would have been the same. And…" he stopped, and looked away.

"And what?" Rose asked. He sighed and looked back at her.

"If I hadn't have had that childhood, I wouldn't be the person I am now. If I hadn't have had that childhood, I wouldn't have done half the things I did and I'd be long dead by now. Growing up like that ended up making me stronger, and I'd have died long ago in the Time War and I'd never have met you," they watched each other for a second, before the Doctor suddenly frowned. "That sounded terribly cheesy, didn't it?" he said, and Rose laughed, shaking her head.

"Not really," she said, smiling warmly at him. He smiled back, but she could still see the pain in his eyes as his smile gradually faded. "Oh come here," she whispered, walking back to him and pulling him into a hug. He gratefully wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close. She rested her head on his shoulder, and kissed him on the neck.

After a few long moments they parted, as their hands slid down to meet each other's and they linked fingers. He looked back over at his parents, still thinking about what had happened.

"If you ever wanna talk about it, you can always come to me," she suggested as he looked back to her. He gave her a warm smile and lifted his hand to her face, touching her cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered sincerely. Then he looked up at the TARDIS. "I think we'd better get going, Jack's probably getting bored waiting for us," he said. Rose laughed, and headed back for the TARDIS. She walked through the doors, as the Doctor looked back into the room one last time, before following her in.

xxx

Jack looked up from where he was sitting to see Rose and the Doctor enter the control room. He grinned at them as they started to walk up the ramp. "Where we going now then?" he asked, jumping up from the chair.

"Just need to go back to Gallifrey one last time," the Doctor said as he walked up to the consol and started adjusting the controls, "one more part I need to get," the room shook as the engines started, as the TARDIS dematerialised. "But first I need to fit these parts," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few mechanisms that neither Rose nor Jack could begin to understand. The engines stopped again as they landed on Gallifrey. "Won't be long," he said, lifting up the grating on the floor and jumping under the consol. He worked his way through the wires, putting his glasses on. Rose watched him, smiling, as he lowered himself down.

Jack looked at his wrist device, which still needed fixing, and decided that the best place to do that was his bedroom, so turned around and walked out of the room. Rose didn't seem to notice him go as she sat down on the grating and watched the Doctor work.

Seconds turned to minutes as the Doctor worked in silence with Rose watching him. She wasn't sure why, but she never seemed to get bored of watching him work on the TARDIS. He always seemed to look so happy when he did it, as if it was his favourite thing to do. Maybe it was. She wondered briefly how long the Doctor had had the TARDIS, and how he got it in the first place. Having travelled for 900 years, she guessed that most of that time if not all of it was in the TARDIS, but she couldn't be sure. She'd probably find out sooner or later.

"You must have better things to do that watch me work," he said, bringing her back to reality.

"Such as?" the Doctor thought for a second.

"I don't know," he said, "haven't you got a magazine to read?" Rose laughed.

"Read 'em all," she said.

"We'll have to get you some new ones."

"I doubt Gallifreyan magazines will interest me much."

"No, probably not," she smiled, as he concentrated back on his work.

"How long have you had the TARDIS for?" she asked. He looked up for a second, thinking.

"Ooh… about, 900 years," he answered, a frown playing on his face.

"You confuse me," she said, leaning forward, "One minute you say you've been travelling for 900 years, then you say you're 900 years old. Which is it?"

"Travelling," he answered, "I've been travelling with the TARDIS for about 900 years. I'm over 1,000 years old." Rose reeled as she thought about this.

"One _thousand _years," she thought aloud, "Bloody hell that's a long time." He sniggered.

"Not really," he said, "1,000 is quite young for a Gallifreyan, most live until about 10,000." She gasped as she thought about this.

"_Ten thousand _years," she said, "my god that's a long time. Wouldn't you get bored eventually?" He threw his head back in laughter.

"Not when there's the whole of time and space to explore," he said, and Rose had to agree with him. A few seconds of silence passed until Rose asked another question.

"How did you get the TARDIS?" she asked. The Doctor stopped working for a second, then carried on.

"She was in a junk yard," he said, "An old version, and she was going to get destroyed. I couldn't get a new TARDIS because no one would give me one, so I just strolled in and flew her away. No one even noticed," a smile came to Rose's face, and the TARDIS lights seemed to dim as the engines made an odd noise, almost as if thanking him. He grinned, looking up around himself. "When I found her she wasn't disguised, just in the shape of a normal TARDIS, so I tried fixing the chameleon circuit. I landed in London in 1953 to see what Earth was like, and look what happened." Rose laughed.

"Is that the first place you went? Earth?" she asked.

"Yep, I wanted to see what Earth was like. I knew that I was half human and I thought that I might feel more at home on this other planet. I was wrong, but it was worth a try. The only place I ever really felt at home was in the TARDIS," Rose smiled to herself, as the TARDIS seemed to smile with her. "I went travelling for a bit, then went back to Earth when I needed to make some repairs. Susan decided that she liked this school and went there, probably just to show off to the other kids there," he chuckled to himself, "ended up getting followed home by her teachers."

"Hang on," Rose interrupted, "who's Susan?"

"My granddaughter, I travelled with her for a bit," he paused, as he stopped working. "She was Magenta's daughter," he said thoughtfully. "She was the only one in my family I ever really understood."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked after a few seconds.

"Time Lord genes are dominant over human genes, and most of my children were Gallifreyan enough for it not to affect them. But with Susan more of the human genes had been passed down, and she was more human than anyone else. We both wanted to go out and explore the universe, like a human does. I've said it before, you humans, you go out and explore just because you can. That's what we were like, whereas most Gallifreyans were content with staying on Gallifrey. So we packed up and left. After about a year we were found, tried and exiled from Gallifrey, but we didn't really care since that's all we wanted anyway. We travelled around the universe, then her schoolteachers came along, and we travelled more…" he trailed off, lost in his thoughts. "Then she fell in love and stayed on Earth. Well, I say that. I kinda made the decision for her. She needed her own life away from me, she couldn't travel forever," he looked down at the wires in his hand, trying not to think too hard about what he'd done. "I met her in the Time War. She'd only been on Earth a couple of years before she was called back to Gallifrey. Time works in weird ways." He stopped as there was a beep from the consol telling him that the parts had been connected properly. "That's it," he said, pulling himself back out. Rose remained sitting as he replaced the grating. He sat down next to her, and put his arm round her shoulders. They sat together for a while, just enjoying each other's presence.

Rose was about to say something, but she decided not to. Somehow, the Doctor seemed to notice this. "What?" he asked. She looked at him, confused as to how he knew she was going to say something, but decided it would be easier just not to ask.

"I was just thinking," she said, "do you think it could have been possible that Eta and Deb knew what would happen, but didn't change it? I mean, if you hadn't have erased their memory, do you think they could have known all along?" The Doctor was silent for a few seconds, and only answered when Rose looked up at him.

"No," he said quietly.

"Why not?" The Doctor paused again before answering.

"'Cause Eta said that he'd always love me, no matter what," the Doctor answered. Rose frowned.

"What, you think he didn't love you?" He nodded. "Why??"

"Partly because of what he said before he killed himself," the Doctor answered, "And because… because he never acted like it. He never paid any attention to me; I spent all my time in my room trying to do my homework. Being half human I never really understood much and had to work really hard to get anywhere. He was always too busy to talk to me, and he only did when he had to. And whenever he looked at me… there was nothing. No love, nothing," he stared into space numbly. "Can't really blame him, though," he added. Rose looked at him in surprise.

"Yes you can!" she said, "It's not your fault!"

"It was because of me that Deb died, I ruined everything for him and ended up costing him his life," he argued.

"But none of that was your fault, was it?" Rose insisted, "It's not as if you did any of that on purpose!" the Doctor remained silent. "Don't blame yourself," she said, "You blame yourself for everything. Stop it," the Doctor smiled at her, and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back, and from behind her he muttered something, but she didn't hear what. Then he pulled away and stood up.

"Right! I think it's about time we got going," he said, looking at the screen on the consol. "Where's Jack?"

"I think he went to his room," replied Rose, standing up. The Doctor flicked a few switches, and there came the buzz of an intercom.

"Jack! We're going out to get the parts, if you wanna come."

"Yeah ok, why not," came Jack's voice, "better than staying in here." The intercom turned off, and the Doctor took one last look at the screen, memorising the parts he needed.

"Let's hope this trip's going to be slightly more uneventful, shall we?" he said, and Rose laughed.

"No chance," she joked, the Doctor laughing with her. At that point Jack came in, and they turned to see him. "Hey Jack," said Rose.

"Hey Rose," he replied, walking up to the consol.

"Fixed it?" she asked, nodding at his wrist device.

"Yep, all better," he said, holding it up. "You two took your time, what were you doing?" he asked, leaning against the consol.

"Fixing the TARDIS," the Doctor replied simply, looking up. "Just a few more things to get then we should be able to go," he said, heading for the door.

"London seems so far away now," Rose thought aloud, "Seems like a lifetime since I was home."

"Know the feeling," the Doctor said, walking up to her. He took her hand. "Now let's go so we can get you back home." They started to walk towards the door as Jack followed them.

"You know something," said Rose as they reached the door. "When we do get back, we're going to have to tell mum about our relationship." The Doctor groaned as he opened the door.

"Oh god…" he muttered, as they walked out.


	23. Last Parts

I apologize for the lack of anything happening in this chapter, but I promise it does get more interesting after this!

As always, thanks for all the fabby fabby reviews, I love em!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

The Doctor looked around in surprise as they stepped outside. Rose and Jack stood next to him on either side, looking at the village around them. It was similar to the previous two villages they'd been to. Rose looked up at the Doctor to find him grinning. He looked back at the TARDIS.

"Cheeky," he muttered.

"What?" Rose asked, but he ignored her question.

"Let's go!" he said, pulling Rose down the street.

xxx

The trio came out of another shop, as the Doctor put another TARDIS part in his pocket. "One more to go," he said, "then we can leave." They started to walk down the street, until they heard a sudden rumble. The Doctor looked at its origin, which happened to be Rose.

"Sorry," she muttered, embarrassed, "I'm hungry."

"Let's get some food then!" the Doctor said, pulling out the money from his pocket. "Let's see, once we've brought the next part," he started to sort through the crumpled notes in his hand. "We might have to eat cheap."

"We can always go back to the TARDIS," Rose suggested.

"Nah! I know a great place for food, come on!" He grabbed her hand and again pulled her down the road, as Jack ran after them.

xxx

They walked into what looked like a café, but it was rather different to one Rose was used to on Earth. She looked up to a list on the wall, which she guessed was a menu. Not that she had any idea what any of it was. She also noticed that there didn't seem to be any sort of counter anywhere.

"What do you want?" the Doctor asked from the other side of the room. He was standing next to a machine that came up to his chest, with various buttons and dials above a small hole in the front.

"What is there?" she asked.

"Anything you want," he said, "but it can't be too complicated." Jack walked up next to her, eyeing the machine. Rose shrugged.

"Chips," she said. He inserted a note, and started twisting the dials. She expected a plate of chips to appear in the hole, but nothing happened.

"Jack?" the Doctor asked.

"Uh… don't mind. Surprise me," he said, grinning. The Doctor smiled to himself as he twisted the dials again.

"And for me…" he muttered, twisting another dial. He pressed a button in the centre, and something appeared in the hole. But instead of it being a plate of food, it was a small bar. He picked it up and handed it to Rose. She took it, and inspected it suspiciously.

The Doctor pressed the button again, and handed the bar that appeared to Jack. He then pressed it a third time and took the bar for himself. He removed the wrapped and took a bite out of it.

"Mmm," he ate. "You gonna eat it?" he asked Rose and Jack through a mouthful of food.

"I asked for chips not a cereal bar," Rose muttered.

"Just eat it," the Doctor said, taking another bite out of his. Rose and Jack looked at each other, then started to peel the wrapping off.

Jack looked at the bar in his hand. It didn't exactly look very appetizing. He sniffed it, but it didn't smell of anything.

"Oh my god that's amazing!" he heard Rose say next to him, he voice muffled by a mouthful of food.

"Told ya," the Doctor said, smiling. Jack looked at his and took a bit.

"It tastes exactly like chips!" Rose gasped disbelievingly, looking at the bar, "It even feels like chips! How do they do that?" Jack smiled appreciatively as the taste of beans on toast filled his mouth.

"It's very complicated," said the Doctor, "I had one of these machines on the TARDIS, but it broke and I never got round to fixing it, then I started to like normal food. Haven't eaten one of these for ages." He took another bite, then walked past Rose and Jack and left the café. They both watched him leave, then followed him out.

xxx

Rose looked over at Jack, as he took a bite.

"What have you got?" she asked.

"Beans on toast," he answered.

"Let's have a bite," they swapped bars, and took a bit out of each other's, then handed them back. Rose looked at the Doctor as he walked in front of them, who had nearly finished his. She ran up next to him. "What have you got?" she asked.

"It's a Gallifreyan food, you wouldn't like it," he said, but Rose suspected otherwise. She nicked the bar from him as he was about to eat the last bit, and ate it herself. "Oi!" the Doctor said, snatching it back off her.

"It's ice cream!" she laughed, as the taste of vanilla mixed with the taste of chips.

"I was enjoying that," he complained, looking sadly at the empty wrapper in his hand.

"Very Gallifreyan," Rose said sarcastically. He sighed and rolled his eyes. She took another bite of hers, and couldn't help but think that chips and ice cream didn't really go too well together.

Jack caught up with them and handed the Doctor an empty wrapper.

"Hey, don't give me your rubbish!" he said, giving it back to Jack, who sighed and put it in his pocket. Rose finished her bar and also put the wrapper in her pocket.

"That's surprisingly filling for something that size," Rose commented. Jack nodded in agreement. The Doctor walked across the street to another shop, and they followed him in.

The shop was much like the other shops they'd been to, with various TARDIS parts on display. The Doctor scanned the shelves, didn't see what he wanted and walked up to the desk, behind which a man was sitting.

"I need a wormhole generator for a type 40 TARDIS, please," he said. The man snorted and looked at him.

"Type 40?" he repeated.

"Yep."

"They're not available yet," he said, looking back at the book he was reading, "try again next year." The Doctor frowned.

"What?" he said, "what year is it?" the man looked up at him.

"This some sort of joke?" he asked, as the Doctor looked at his watch.

"No, I just…" he sighed, "I told the TARDIS to come in ten years!" he looked around the room angrily as the shop assistant gave him an odd look, "Not now…" he trailed off, as he looked back at his watch suddenly. His eyes began to widen as his mouth fell open. "Oh my…" he whispered, then suddenly ran out of the shop. Jack and Rose looked at each other for a second, before running out after him.


	24. Unanswered Questions

Right, it starts to get interesting now! Bit of a short chapter here, I know, but as always, the more reviews the faster I update!

I hope the flashbacks make sense here, it's meant to be like in Lost when Claire has flashbacks to when she was with the Others... if that makes any sense to anyone...

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Rose and Jack ran after the Doctor as he ran down the streets ahead of them. He skidded round a corner, and stood still. They ran round after him, and were quite surprised to see what he was staring at was in fact a small play area.

There were swings, see-saws and climbing frames like on Earth, as well as other things Rose had never seen before. There were a few young children playing, with some adults sitting on some benches to the side of the park watching and chatting amongst themselves. A couple of adults were playing with their children, one of them pushing a boy on a swing and the other helping a girl with some Gallifreyan thing that didn't make much sense to Rose or Jack. It was quite a nice sight, so why the Doctor was staring at it looking extremely sad neither of them knew.

"Doctor?" Rose asked. The Doctor seemed to snap out of a trance.

"Sorry, hello, sorry," he said quickly, blinking several times.

"You ok?" Rose asked. He nodded, and began to walk slowly forwards. He stopped as he reached the railing around the edge of the park, and looked to the swings, specifically at the man who was pushing a small boy. The Doctor watched them numbly, as the man looked up at them.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

He looked up to see three people standing by the fence watching him, one man in particular looking at him with a sense of foreboding.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"Help me… oh god…"

"Rose, hang in there, I'm going to get you out. I promise."

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"We've got to go!"

"I'm not going without Rose!"

"You can't save her!"

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"Doctor! Help me!"

"Rose! No! _Rose!_"

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

The Doctor stumbled back slightly as images flashed through his mind, the desperate voices screaming in his head, then fading away.

"Doctor you ok?" Rose gasped urgently, grabbing his hand. The man pushing the boy on the swing didn't notice, his attention pulled back to his child.

The Doctor looked down at Rose, breathing deeply, before suddenly wrapping his arms around her and pulling her towards him. He held her protectively, as she hesitantly rested her arms round his back.

"I love you," he whispered, tightening his grip on her.

"I love you too," she whispered back, unsure of what else to say. He pulled away from her, and tightly held her hand. She turned around to face the playground again, as the Doctor watched the man pushing the boy on the swing. He had longish, brushed back dark hair, which Rose couldn't help but think looking surprisingly similar to Eta's. "Who is that?" she asked, and for a few seconds the Doctor didn't answer.

"He's me," he said finally. They watched for a few seconds in silence, as Jack slowly began to figure something out.

"So what happens?" he asked, and the other two looked at him, slightly confused. "I mean, if you've come running over here then clearly something's going to happen." Rose looked up at the Doctor, who nodded.

"Very clever," he said, but didn't elaborate.

"So?" Jack asked, "What happens?" the Doctor was about to answer him, but he stopped himself. He glanced back at the swings, and saw his past self looking at his watch, then leaning down to the boy.

"This way!" the Doctor said, leading them back down the street they'd just come down.

"Where are going?" Rose asked him as she was dragged along.

"Short cut," he said, pulling them round another corner then another. They went down a small alleyway then stopped just before a bigger path. He pulled them behind some large plants by the side of the path just by a corner. They leant behind the leaves so they were out of sight to anyone walking along the path.

"What are we doing?" Jack asked, as the Doctor looked out over the path.

"Today I was walking home with Deneeal – that's my son by the way, the boy on the swing – and when I got to this corner suddenly everything went black and I woke up two hours later lying on the path with no idea what had happened. Well, now I'm going to find out," he watched the path impatiently. Rose frowned.

"But, isn't this going to cause a paradox or something? Interfering with the past?"

"I think I'm meant to interfere," the Doctor replied.

"Why?"

"Just a hunch," he didn't look back at her, he just kept his eyes on the path.

"If you woke up two hours later," Jack said in an enquiring tone, "where was Deneeal?" the Doctor didn't answer, he didn't even look round.

"There!" he whispered urgently, as his past self walked round the corner, holding Daneeal's hand. Deneeal looked to be about 3 or 4 years old, with black spiky hair and pale skin. He was laughing as his father spoke to him.

The Doctor watched intently as they began to walk past them, completely oblivious of their presence. Rose felt his grip on her hand tighten as they walked past.

Suddenly something very weird happened.

They disappeared.


	25. Fibster

Thank you for all the fab reviews for last chapter! XD I hope what's happening makes sense towards the end of the chapter, I think it's ok...

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Jack, Rose and the Doctor stared for a seconds as there was a small crack of static, and the two people in front of them were gone.

"Teleport!" the Doctor shouted to no one in particular, running out to where they'd just disappeared, unknowingly pulling Rose along with him. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, turned it on, and with a sudden crack of static they too disappeared. Jack blinked at the empty space in front of him.

"Oh, thanks!" he said sarcastically, then looked at his wrist device as he too tried to follow the teleport. But it didn't work, the signal was gone. He looked around in bewilderment, with no idea what to do now.

xxx

The Doctor and Rose cracked into existence on a bare, rocky surface. Wherever they were, it was night, and it was cold. Rose gasped as she felt like someone had wrapped a cloth around her face, and struggled to breathe. The Doctor scanned the surface, and saw his past self standing a few metres away from them, clutching Deneeal.

"Hello!" he said cheerfully, waving at them.

"Hello," his past self replied in confusion.

"Tom, isn't it?" the Doctor asked. He stared at the Doctor, eyes wide. "Theta! Sorry, Theta," the Doctor said quickly. "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose," he said, looking back at Rose, who seemed to be wheezing. "You ok?"

"Can't… breathe…" she gasped, trying to take deep breathes.

"Yeah, the air is a bit thin, isn't it?" he commented.

"Yeah, just a bit," Rose said sarcastically. The Doctor smiled at her. "How come… you're fine?" she asked.

"It's a Time Lord thing," he answered. He suddenly looked around himself urgently. "Right, where are we?" he said, pulling his sonic screwdriver out. "Theta, any ideas?"

"Uh…" came the response. The Doctor sniggered.

"Where's Jack?" asked Rose.

"Must have left him behind when we teleported," the Doctor said, "let's get him…" he turned the screwdriver on, but nothing happened. "Teleport's gone," he muttered, "brilliant." He looked up to the sky, examining the stars. "I think we're on Fibster, an asteroid in Gallifrey's solar system… but why take us to Fibster? There's nothing interesting here…"

"I've lost count… of how many times… you've said that," Rose said breathlessly. The Doctor laughed.

"But why Fibster? I can't even find a power source…" he was cut off as the ground beneath them suddenly trembled and shook, a loud noise echoing around them.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"Doctor! Hold on!!"

"_Rose!_"

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

They stumbled as the ground shook, then stopped again. Rose surprised herself by not falling over. She felt very light for some reason, probably because there was so little gravity.

"What was that?" Theta gasped, clutching Deneeal tighter.

"I don't know…" the Doctor said, looking around himself. Suddenly it started again, only much, much more violent. The Doctor ran across to Rose and wrapped his arms around her as the ground moved sickeningly beneath them. Everything suddenly lurched, throwing them all to the ground. Rose clung onto the Doctor as everything became a blur around her. "This isn't right!" she heard him saying, "this isn't meant to be happening!" He jumped up and ran forward, somehow managing to keep his balance. "Who's there?!" he shouted to the air, "Come out and show yourself!" at his words the ground lurched again, throwing him into the air, the lack of gravity sending him flying upwards. He fell back down to the Earth, hitting the ground face-first. "Ugh…" he groaned, lifting his head up. His eyes widened as he saw a huge crack in the ground heading straight towards him. Rose seemed to see it too.

"Doctor look out!" she yelled.

He leapt to his feet, but was too late as the ground crumbled beneath him. He fell through the air, reaching out for anything to grab onto. His hand connected with a piece of rock and he clung on as his body dangled down, the rock falling below him. He looked down into the darkness below him, then back up to the ground above him. He reached his other hand up and grabbed the rock above him, but he could feel his fingers slipping.

"Doctor! Hold on!!" he heard Rose shout.

"_Rose!_" he called back, scrabbling on the rock with his hands. Rose tried to run towards him, but she was knocked over again as the ground shook. The Doctor managed to pull his hands forward, and swung his body up, kicking against the rock with his feet until he managed to get one foot on the ground. He pulled himself back up, straining his muscles, trying desperately not to fall as the ground shook. He rolled onto the rock, gasping for breath. He heard the ground again cracking beneath him, and jumped to his feet, running unsteadily across the shaking ground to Rose. He fell to his knees beside her, and they grabbed each other, each trying to protect the other one. To the side of them, Theta sat clutching Deneeal, worried out of his mind.

"What's happening?!" Rose yelled over the noise around them.

"This isn't right," the Doctor said, "this isn't meant to happen! Someone is doing this, manipulating the asteroid to make this happen!" they looked forward as the cracks began to spread towards them. "Run!" he yelled, pulling Rose to her feet. Theta also scrambled to his feet, and the three of them ran across the dancing ground away from the cracks that followed them. Rose and the Doctor ran hand in hand as Theta ran holding Deneeal.

Suddenly a crack spread across the ground in front of them, as more cracks appeared below their pounding feet. They stumbled as the ground separated and fell away through the increasing cracks. They carried on trying to run, but found them selves struggling to stay standing on the crumbling ground. Theta was the first to fall, as he leapt to avoid the falling ground beneath him. But as he hit the ground, Deneeal fell from his arms and rolled across the ground, crying.

"No! Deneeal!" Theta and the Doctor yelled at the same time, but it was the Doctor who ran towards him, letting go of Rose's hand. He dashed across to Deneeal, who was sitting on a crack which was beginning to open. He scooped him up into his arms just as the ground fell away below him, and leapt onto the other side. Spinning around, he looked in horror at Rose who had fallen to the ground as the cracks increased around her, then back at Theta who was in much the same position. The crack between him and Rose began to increase, and he found himself running back and jumping across it, only just making it to the other side. He stumbled, then ran back to Rose and pulled her back to her feet and held her close to him, wrapping one arm round her back as he held Deneeal with the other. He looked back up at Theta, who now had a huge gap between him and them, and the ground around him was crumbling away. But before the Doctor could do anything to help, the ground around him was already beginning to crumble away. There was nowhere left to run. He held Rose tightly as he felt the ground give way beneath him.


	26. Warning

Hm. Once again I am stuck for anything to say. As usualy, please review, more reviews mean a faster update!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

xxx

As the ground disappeared from beneath he Doctor, instead of tumbling helplessly through the air as he'd been expecting, he instead felt sturdy metal grating appear beneath him. His eyes snapped open as he looked up, already knowing where they were. He'd recognise that metal grating anywhere.

He'd never felt so relieved to hear the TARDIS engines or look around at the control room. He glanced up at the control panel, and saw Jack look up at him.

"Thanks for abandoning me!" Jack said bitterly, but quickly smiled again. Suddenly the TARDIS shook as the ground it had materialised on fell away. The Doctor ran up to the consol and attacked the controls, until the shaking stopped. The Doctor spun back to the door when he realised Theta was still out there. He ran back to Rose and thrust Deneeal into her arms.

"Stay here," he ordered, and ran out the door.

xxx

The Doctor fell out of the TARDIS into the shaking ground, and saw Theta trying to stay on the few bits of ground that were left. He'd materialised the TARDIS on another part and had secured the ground around it, but beyond that it was still crumbling away. He saw Theta trying to run towards the TARDIS. Between Theta and the Doctor was a gap where the ground had cracked. It looked just about short enough to jump over, but only just. Theta reached the edge of the ground on his side, and looked across the gap. The Doctor also ran to the edge on his side.

"Jump!" he shouted, holding his arms out. Theta took a few steps back, ready to take a run up. He started to run at the gap, but as he reached the edge the ground fell away, and he found himself jumping on nothing. He fell forwards, only just managing to grab onto the side of the rock. The Doctor fell to his knees about to pull him up, when he suddenly stopped.

"Help me!" Theta called desperately up to him, but the Doctor didn't move.

"I can't," he said quietly. But before he could do anything else, the ground Theta was holding onto collapsed and Theta began to fall. Instinctively the Doctor flung himself down and grabbed Theta's arm, and Theta grabbed his. A chill went down the Doctor's spin as he realized what he'd just done. Slowly, he looked up as he heard the familiar sound of wings above him, and found himself looking at…

A reaper.

He choked in fear as the monster looked down at him, revealing its mouth. A split second later it was diving towards them. In a lightening-fast movement, the Doctor pulled Theta up from where he was hanging until he was stumbling across the ground with him as he pulled him back to the TARDIS. They ran with adrenaline cursing through them as in front of them the TARDIS doors opened and Rose looked out with confusion and horror at the reaper flying after them. She quickly jumped out of the way of the doors as the two Doctor's ran into the TARDIS past her and the doors flew shut behind them.

The Doctor let go of Theta's hand and ran up to the consol attacking the controls again as there was a grinding sound from the engines, then it stopped. He pulled the screen round to face him, scanning the symbols on it. He breathed a sigh of relief as it said that the reaper had been sent back into the vortex. Theta looked over at Rose, who was still holding Deneeal, as the Doctor started inputting a course for the TARDIS. Deneeal reached out for Theta, who quickly took him from Rose.

"Someone's planning this," the Doctor thought aloud, "either wanting to cause a paradox, or something deeper…" he fiddled with the controls, glancing up at the screen every few seconds. Theta tried to comfort Deneeal who was crying, and Rose took the opportunity to ask the Doctor something. She walked up next to him.

"Theta?" she asked, referring to why he'd called his past self Theta instead of Tom.

"Long story, explain later," he said quickly, concentrating on the controls, "Trust me, call him Theta." Rose nodded slowly, deciding not to ask. The engines started up again, as the TARDIS went into flight. He concentrated on the consol and on the screen, unaware of the suspicious looks Theta was giving him as he figured out who he was. "Oh dear," the Doctor said after a while. They looked at him, slightly worried now.

"What?" Rose asked.

"I can't find a power source," he said, "I can't find anything, no clues as to who brought us here, something's blocking my signals. Which means one of two things. Either the TARDIS is broken, or we're dealing with a species higher than the Time Lords."

"I don't suppose we're lucky enough for it to be the first one?" Rose said, and the Doctor shook his head. "So what's higher than the Time Lords?"

"Ooh, there are a few races. The Eternals, the Guardians… a few others. Though the Eternals fled after the Time War and were never seen or heard from again, the Black Guardian was banished with the Enlightenment Crystal and the other races are very peaceful, so I don't know what's going on…" the TARDIS beeped as he tried to send out other signals to get an idea of who was behind everything, but once again he got nothing. He sighed and hit the consol angrily.

They stood in silence for a moment, as the Doctor tried to think of what to do. Surprisingly enough, it was Theta who spoke next.

"Don't you already know who it is?" he said, more of a statement then a question. The Doctor looked up at him.

"Would I be standing here now if I knew who it was?" he retorted.

"You've been through this before, you should already know, right?" Theta said. The Doctor looked at him for a second, licking his teeth.

"I don't remember," he said finally. "And neither, my old friend, will you," he added, turning back to the consol.

"Why not?"

"You're going to wake up on the pavement back on Gallifrey in about two hours with no recollection of what just happened," the Doctor explained, looking at the consol, "oh, and a splitting headache," he added.

"What about Deneeal?" Theta asked, but before the Doctor could answer the TARDIS beeped.

"Ah! Got a signal, from inside the planet," the noise of the engines increased, until the TARDIS landed. They headed to the door, Theta staying behind for a few seconds, before deciding to follow them out. If they were dealing with a species higher than the Time Lords, he figured it would be safer to take Deneeal with him rather than leave him in the TARDIS. Somehow.

xxx

Rose was pleased that there was more air down here than on the surface, if only slightly more. Jack and Theta followed her and the Doctor out, as the Doctor looked around them. As far as they could see, it was just an empty cavern, with nothing but rocks to be seen. Rose and Jack couldn't see much in front of them, as there was only a few small rays of light coming from the surface above them. The Doctor, Theta and Deneeal, however, could see all around them quite clearly. Not that there was much to see around them.

"Hello?" the Doctor called out, his voice echoing around the cave. "Anyone there?" the only noise they heard was the return of the Doctor's voice. "No?" Nothing. "Fine," he sighed. He began to walk forward. Rose and Jack instinctively walked after him, but didn't get far. Jack hit his shin against a rock jutting out from the ground and Rose walked straight into another rock hanging from the ceiling.

"Ow!" they both exclaimed at the same time. The Doctor rolled his eyes and took each of their hands in each of his.

"Humans," he muttered. He began to lead them forward, as they carefully placed their feet on the rough ground. Theta walked after them.

They reached a wall of stone, and the Doctor ran his hands over it. He ran his sonic screwdriver over it, the blue light illuminating the otherwise dark room. Listening to the sounds the screwdriver gave out which only seemed to make sense to him, he calculated a weak point in the rock, and pushed against it. The rocks collapsed forward, into another cave. But this one was much brighter, as more of the light from the surface was shining through. The Doctor put his sonic screwdriver away, and began to walk forward. Rose and Jack followed him into the room. They all walked straight to the walls, which were covered in hieroglyphics. Rose and Jack looked at the symbols in confusion. The Doctor ran his hands over the stone. The symbols were engraved in it. He pulled out his glasses and put them on, inspecting the writing.

"It doesn't translate," Rose said, looking back at the Doctor. "Like that writing on Krop Tor, with the Beast. Is it the same writing?" the Doctor inspected the symbols for a few more moments, before stepping back and taking his glasses off.

"No," he said, "it's different. Not the same characters. I think I recognise it… from somewhere…" he wracked his brain trying to remember where he'd seen that writing before. What was said next surprised everyone, but what surprised them more was who said it.

"It's the Eternals' language," said Deneeal. They all looked at him disbelievingly.

"How do you know that?" the Doctor asked.

"I read a book about it," he answered. The Doctor cracked a smile, looking infinitely proud.

"Can you tell us what it says?" he asked. Deneeal jumped from his father's arms and walked up to the wall, looking over the writing.

"It's a repeating phrase," he said, as he tried to translate it. "I think it says, 'those who walk through these ancient aging caves, must be sure to tread with care else they should see their graves, for those who don't leave then fate they do defy, while walking through these ancient rocks then they shall surely die.'" Deneeal stepped back from the wall, looking around in fear.

"That doesn't sound too good," said the Doctor, looking around himself. He began to walk towards the centre of the room, and looked up at the ceiling, which was also covered in symbols. "I think…" he said, as he watched cracks begin to spread from the engraved letters, "we should be going…"

There was suddenly an almighty explosion, as the ground rocked beneath them, throwing them off their feet. "Run!" the Doctor yelled, as they all jumped up and ran back out of the room. Theta grabbed Deneeal and tried to run, but the ground was shaking too much for any of them to get very far. Jack was the first who managed to get out, followed by the Doctor. He looked up at the rock around the entrance to the room, which was cracking. "Run! Come on!" he shouted to the people left in the room, as they tried to run out. Theta was the next out, as he clutched Deneeal close to him. "Rose! Come on!" the Doctor called, but the last word was interrupted by a resounding crack as the rocks above them split and fractured, until the rock above the entrance to the room gave way and fell down. The Doctor stared on horror at the rock that had separated him and Rose. Above them the rocks were still shifting blocking out the little light that was entering the room. He ran up to the rocks and tried to find a gap. "Rose!" he called desperately, "_Rose!_"

"Doctor!" She called back, and he found a gap, just big enough to look through. He saw her looked back at him with fear in her eyes. "Help me…" she cried, "Oh god…"

"Rose, hang in there, I'm going to get you out," he said, but he could see she was still scared. He put his arm through the hole, so he could just about see her. "I promise," he said, cupping her cheek. She put her shaking hand on his, scared but believing without a doubt that he would rescue her.

Then there was another crack and a bang, as the rocks shifted above them. The Doctor pulled his hand out before the rocks fell into the gap, blocking off his view of Rose. "Rose!" he called frantically, "_Rose!_" But this time there was no answer. "No!" he yelled, hitting the rocks with his hands.

"We've got to go!" he heard Theta shout from behind him, but there was no way he was going to leave Rose.

"No! I'm not going without Rose!" he shouted back.

"You can't save her!" Theta argued.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"Don't toucher her! Leaver her alone!"

"You can't save her, unless you do as I say."

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

The Doctor shook the voices from his head and concentrated on the present.

"You lot go back to the TARDIS," he ordered, "I'm going to stay with Rose," he turned back to the rocks and tried to find a way through. Jack and Theta looked at each other for a second. "Go!" the Doctor shouted back to them. Theta didn't hesitated in running back, only wanting to protect Deneeal. Jack decided that he probably couldn't help anyway, not being able to see anything, so began to run back to the TARDIS, running into more rocks on the way than was necessary.

The Doctor searched round the rocks for a gap, constantly calling Rose's name, but he didn't once get an answer. He direly hoped that that was because the rock was too thick to let sound through rather than because anything had happened to Rose. He looked upwards, and saw a gap at the top of the rocks. Reaching up the rocks, he began to climb up, his feet slipping as the ground shook. He climbed higher and higher, almost reaching the top where the rocks were falling from. He narrowly avoided being hit numerous times as rocks fell past his body. Finally, he managed to reach the gap, and he looked into the room, and saw… nothing.

"Rose?" he gasped, anxiously searching the empty room. Confusion overwhelmed him, as there seemed to be no way she could have gotten out. She must have found a way out that he couldn't see. As the rocks shifted, the gap became bigger, and he started to pull himself through. But as he'd pulled the top half of his body through, he felt the rocks move sickeningly below him. He gasped onto the rocks around him as the pile of rocks below him shifted and began to collapse. His grip on the rocks above him slipped as he fell into the rocks below.


	27. Hang on

Once again I'm rather evil with the cliffies in this chatper... sorry! I can't help it! I can't operate without cliffies.

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Rose felt sick as the world fell away from around her. Everything seemed to be black and white at the same time, as screaming silences echoed through her mind. She felt as if her body was being pulled apart then compressed, turned inside out and ripped to bits. Her mind was blank as she felt like she was falling through nothingness, unable to breathe in the thick air.

Then suddenly it all stopped as she hit what she guessed was the ground. The world was spinner around her, through her and in her as her mind tried to settle in her head again. She blearily dared to open her eyes, but all she saw was a spinning blurry blackness. Quickly closing her eyes again, she wondered what the hell had happened, and when she'd see the Doctor again.

xxx

The Doctor groaned as his consciousness returned. He had a splitting headache and his whole body ached. He slowly opened his eyes, but saw nothing other than rock in front of him. He tried to cast his mind back to the last thing he remembered…

He was falling. Falling into the rocks as they too fell. Logically he must have been crushed… but he was still alive. He managed to move his head as he looked around himself. All he could see was rock, but he could see that it had formed a sort of cocoon around him, leaving a small air gap between his body and the rock. There was a rock pressing against his chest, but not enough to do any major damage. Well. His chest was hurting more and more with every breath, but he decided he'd ignore that for now. He tried to move his arms and legs, and found he was able to. He was amazingly lucky, by rights he should have been crushed. The ground seemed to have stopped shaking. He tried to wiggle himself out, but as he did he heard the rocks begin to shift and slide, and decided to stay where he was. But quite how he was going to get out he didn't know.

xxx

Jack and Theta stood in the TARDIS in silence, as the shaking outside began to stop. Jack waited until it had gone completely, then ran for the door. Theta ran out after him.

xxx

"Doctor!" Jack called, looking around. Now that the rocks from the ceiling had fallen through, he could see considerably better, and the sun was starting to show. "Doctor!" he called again, but got no response. Both Theta and Deneeal were also calling, switching between calling 'Doctor' and 'Rose'. For once Theta had let go of Deneeal, and all three of them were searching. They began to near the room with the hieroglyphics. "Doctor!" Jack called, getting increasingly worried with each second.

"Jack!" They heard a muffled voice shout. They all perked up and looked around more urgently.

"Where are you?" Jack called back, running in the direction of the voice.

"I'm… um… trapped under the rocks," the voice replied, sounding slightly embarrassed.

"Where?" Jack asked again.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Jack sighed and found where he thought the Doctor was. "Is Rose there?" Jack looked around.

"Can't see her," he said. The Doctor was silent. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know! She disappeared!" Jack looked at his wrist device as he made it perform a search for Rose.

"She's just under a mile from here, she's fine," he called, reading out the information on the screen. The Doctor didn't reply, but Jack knew he must be relieved. "You here?" he asked, looking at a particular pile of rocks in front of him.

"I don't know," the voice replied, and Jack was sure he was under that pile.

"Theta! Come and help!" Jack said, as he began to try to move the rocks.

"Where's Deneeal? Is he ok?" the Doctor asked.

"He's fine," Jack said, as Deneeal watched them. They worked on moving the rocks, rolling them off the pile.

xxx

The Doctor could hear the rocks moving above him, as dust began to fall through the gaps in the rocks around him. He saw rays of light shining through the gaps, which were then blocked as bodies moved over the rocks. Then the rock directly above his head was removed, and he squinted as the bright light filled his vision.

"Well hello, Doc!" he heard Jack's voice say. He blinked his eyes open, and looked at Jack.

"Well hello, Jack!" he said back. Jack grinned at him. "Care to get the rest of me out?" Jack and Theta started to move the rock that was on his chest, and he breathed gratefully as the weight was removed, but found he could only take small breaths as it hurt if he took in too deep a breath. Jack and Theta worked at freeing the rest of his body, and the Doctor pushing himself up into a sitting position. As Jack moved the last rock off his leg, he looked back to find the Doctor wheezing slightly and clutching his chest.

"You ok?" Jack asked, and the Doctor nodded.

"Yeah. Fine," he said quickly, "we've gotta find Rose." He stood up, wobbling slightly, as he began to walk back to the TARDIS.

xxx

The Doctor went through the doors and ran up to the consol, and began setting various controls. As much as the Doctor said he was fine, Jack could tell he wasn't.

"You sure you're ok?" he asked again, as the engines started up.

"Yeah, I said, I'm fine. My chest just hurts a bit, that's all," he didn't notice as Jack raised his wrist device and scanned him.

"You've broken your ribs," Jack said, but the Doctor didn't care.

"Could have been a lot worse," he said simply, not turning back to Jack.

"You can't go running around with broken ribs."

"Since when were you so safety conscious?" the Doctor asked, briefly looking at Jack, before looking back at the consol. "We've got to find Rose. Besides, my ribs will heal." Jack looked at his wrist device, and sure enough, the Doctor's ribs were beginning to heal.

"Impressive," he muttered, as the TARDIS landed. The Doctor ran to the doors and went through them. They found themselves once again under the surface, but it was considerably brighter now that the sun had risen. The Doctor strode forward, looking around himself.

"Rose?" he called, but there was no answer. "Can you pinpoint her Jack?" he asked, turning to Jack, who looked again at his wrist device.

"Sure thing Doc," he said, as it beeped. "That way," he pointed to the left, and they began to follow him.

xxx

They ran through the maze of rocks in search of Rose, as Jack's wrist device said they were coming closer and closer. Finally they turned a corner and found her lying unconscious on the ground.

"Rose!" the Doctor gasped, running to her and falling to his knees at her side. He scooped her into his arms and laid her on his lap as her eyes fluttered open. "Rose?" he whispered, gently stroking her cheek.

"Hey Doctor," she said weakly, smiling at him. He smiled back, relieved. She looked a bit pale, but other than that she was fine. "What happened?" she asked.

"Don't know. Could have been anything. Teleport, I'm guessing, but we can't be sure. What do you remember?" Rose fidgeted as she tried to think.

"I was in that room with the symbols, shouting for you, when suddenly everything went black. Then I was falling and my whole body hurt, then I hit the ground and passed out," the Doctor nodded, as he processed the information.

"Sounds like a teleport," he said, "You ok now?" she smiled and nodded.

"Fine, yeah," she said, and the Doctor helped her sit up. Jack and Theta knelt down next to them, with Deneeal standing by them. "You figured out who it is then?" she asked.

"Well, I thought it might be the Eternals since it was their language in there, but they seemed to be warning us. But the Eternals shouldn't be here anyway, like I said they fled after the War and were never heard from again."

"They could have come back," suggested Deneeal.

"Maybe…" the Doctor thought. "But whoever it is, I don't think they want us dead."

"Oh you don't?" Jack said sarcastically, "They've been dropping the ground from around us and dropping rocks on us, but hey, they don't want us dead!"

"If they wanted us dead they could have killed us long ago," the Doctor said, "they could have just crushed us or dropped us, but they didn't. They kept us alive, if only just. I should have been crushed just now, but I wasn't. It's as if they're trying to scare us, but they want us alive."

"Like they're toying with us," Rose suggested.

"Exactly like that," the Doctor said. "But the Eternals aren't like that. And they've gone now anyway since the War…"

"You keep talking about a war," Theta said, "what war?" the Doctor didn't answer for a second.

"The Time War," he said eventually.

"What's the Time War?" Jack and Rose could see the Doctor didn't want to answer this, but Theta was insistent.

"The war between the Time Lords and the Daleks. It was so horrible that the Eternals despaired of this reality and left. But it looks like they've come back!" he said, quickly changing the subject. "Or, they put that message there before they left. Maybe they knew this was going to happen," he was lost in thought, as a million ideas ran through his brain.

"But if they left it here to warn us, then who's bringing us here now?" said Theta.

"I don't know," replied the Doctor, deep in thought, "but I think it's about time we found out!" he said loudly, standing up. "Come on then! Come out and show yourself!" He called to the air, but nothing happened. He put his hands on his hips, annoyed. "Cowards," he muttered, sitting down again. Then the ground shook again.

"They didn't like that," said Jack.

"No they didn't," the Doctor agreed, as the shaking became more violent. "Back the TARDIS!" he ordered, standing up and pulling Rose up with him. Then the whole asteroid seemed to be lifted up, as they were all suddenly thrown backwards. They scrambled to their feet, each having been thrown in different directions. They managed to stand up, but were suddenly thrown back again. Theta managed to grab Deneeal while Jack held onto a rock, and began to pull himself up. But as the Doctor and Rose fell together, clutching hands, the Doctor smashed into a large rock, and Rose was pulled from his grip. He yelled her name as she continued to fall away from him. Gravity seemed to return to normal as they fell to the ground. Jack and Theta instantly stood up, but the Doctor was already running towards rose. "Go back to the TARDIS!" he shouted at them, and they obeyed.

They Doctor ran and jumped through the labyrinth of rocks until he found her lying in the middle of a huge, empty space. He saw her struggle to her feet, only to be knocked over again as the ground shook violently. "Rose!" he called, and she looked up to see him. She began to run forward, but suddenly froze as she saw cracks in the ground appearing at her feet. They spread across the ground around her. She stared around herself in horror, as the Doctor stared too. "Run!" He shouted to her, and she did as she was told.

She heard the crash of the ground behind her as it began to fall. She didn't dare look behind, she just kept running. The Doctor watched in terror as the ground fell away behind her, getting closer and closer to her. Instinctively he ran out to her, as cracks appeared around his feet.

Rose felt sick as the ground wobbled more and more around her feet, but she didn't dare look down. She saw the Doctor running towards her, and decided it was best not to wonder why. Then with a sudden sickening movement she knew why. She screamed in fear as the ground fell away from beneath her and she found herself falling.

Then suddenly she wasn't falling anymore, as she felt a hand grab hers. She dangled for a second, before looking up to see the Doctor above her, flat on his front clinging onto her hand with one of his, while trying to support himself with the other hand clinging onto the ground. "Hold on!" he yelled, and she reached her other hand up and grabbed onto his wrist. She could feel her hands slipping with every shake of the ground. The ground was still falling around them, until the only ground left was that which was connecting them with the ground that lead back to the TARDIS. If the Doctor wasn't trying so hard to pull Rose back up, he'd have made a comment about how whoever was behind this really was playing with them.

The Doctor tried to push himself backwards with his free hand and pull Rose up, but her dead weight was making him put all his energy into not falling down with her. Their hands were slipping from the sweat that covered them, as she slipped further from his grip every time the ground rumbled.

Rose could feel her grip loosening more and more rapidly, and dug her nails in so hard she almost drew blood. But no matter how hard she gripped, it was no use. She screamed as their hands slipped and she was falling again.

In a lightening fast movement, the Doctor flung himself further forward with both hands and managed to grab onto hers, but with nothing else to hold on to, he too was beginning to fall over the edge. Rose looked up and saw him slipping over the rock, with fear in his eyes. He tried to wrap his legs around the rock, and somehow managed to cling on, as the edge of the rock dug into his stomach. They clung onto each other as if their lives depended on it, which for Rose, it did. The Doctor winced in pain as the rock dug into him more and more, his legs aching with the effort of keeping them up. They just had to wait for the quaking to stop, then Jack should be able to help them. Couldn't be too long now…

Then they heard another crack from directly behind them. They looked as the underside of the rock, as it began to fracture. "Oh that's just typical," the Doctor muttered, as the rock cracked and broke off, and they plummeted through the air.


	28. Fallen

Haha, evil cliffie. I was also going to be evil in this one, then I thought... nah. So I put in an extra sentance at the end... you'll see what I mean when you get there.

I only got 5 reviews for the last chapter :( pleeeaaase review! David Tennant shaped cookies for all who do XD

Talking of David Tennant, Recovery! Who watched it? Poor Dav- I mean Allan! Aw so sad. But funny sometimes, too... 'I've got to take my dressing table off' lol! Aww. Must not laugh.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Jack waited for the ground to stop shaking outside before running outside the TARDIS. He looked around, but couldn't see Rose or the Doctor anywhere, and was beginning to get worried. He looked at his wrist device, which showed him the direction they were in, and began to run towards them. He didn't bother to look at the altitude or the speed they were moving at.

xxx

As soon as they started falling, Rose screamed as the air was sucked from her lungs and the sickening sensation of falling through empty air filled her body and mind. She felt the Doctor pull her close to him and hold her tightly to him. Amazingly, he wasn't screaming like she was, which she found almost unnatural. As she ran out of breath, she looked up at him. He was scanning the area around them for any escape method, any way that might help them, but when he looked at her she could see that he was just as scared as she was.

Rose tried to scream, but she'd lost her voice. The air seemed to be getting thinner and thinner as they tumbled helplessly down, and she was finding it harder and harder to breathe. She squeezed her eyes shut and held onto the Doctor as tears escaped her eyes. She tried not to think about anything; she just kept telling herself that the Doctor would find a way out. He'd save them.

xxx

Jack frowned as he looked around himself. He was standing on a jutting out piece of rock, and his wrist device was saying that he was standing right next to the Doctor and Rose. Then suddenly it hit him. He slowly changed the angle of the map on the screen, and saw that they were in fact a good mile or so below him, falling. He looked down into the darkness below him, his eyes wide. Finally he managed to run back to the TARDIS.

xxx

"They're falling!" he called to Theta, who was standing outside the TARDIS, "get in the TARDIS! We have to help them!" Theta ran in as Jack ran in after him, and they both ran up to the consol. Jack started to adjust the controls, as the engines started.

"What do you mean they're falling?" Theta asked.

"What do you mean what do I mean? They're falling! Into the asteroid!"

"What are you doing with the TARDIS?"

"I'm going to materialise around them," Jack didn't know much about how to pilot the TARDIS, one of the only things he knew was how to materialise around the Doctor, which he'd been taught after travelling with them for a few weeks. Other than that most of the controls meant nothing to him.

"You can't do that!" Theta argued.

"Why not?"

"If they're falling they'll just smash onto the floor!" Jack paused, as he thought about the logic of the situation.

"Well what do you suggest we do then?" he asked angrily. Theta put Deneeal down and ran up to the controls.

"We can manipulate the gravity around them, change it so that they're not falling or falling slower, then materialise around them," he explained quickly, while the engines began to groan louder. He pulled the screen around and looked at it as he set the controls. Then suddenly he stopped.

"What is it?" Jack demanded. Theta just stared at the screen.

"They've already hit the ground," he said quietly.

xxx

Ever so slowly Rose's consciousness began to return to her. It came, along with her senses, in small doses. She groaned as she regained feeling in her body, then instantly regretting it. Every muscle ached and every bone felt as if it was broken. Her head was spinning and her mind felt empty. She tried to focus her brain and remember what had happened.

For a moment her mind was blank as she remembered nothing. Then suddenly it all came flooding back to her. She'd been falling with the Doctor, as the air got thinner and thinner and she was finding it harder and harder to breathe. Then suddenly the Doctor had thrown himself backwards and pushed her upwards. He must have seen the ground, she guessed. She hadn't known what was happening at the time, as she felt herself suddenly going upwards rather than downwards, then she was falling down again. Then she'd hit the ground.

She was amazed she was still alive. She guessed that when the Doctor had pushed her up it had made her fall slower, so the impact wasn't as much as it would have been. She tried to move, but her body ached too much so she gave up. She was lying on something nice and soft, which probably also broke her fall.

Hang on, rock wasn't soft. She opened her eyes and looked at what she was lying on, and realized that she was laying on the Doctor. She gasped and fell off him, rolling on the ground away from him. She stopped herself and looked back at him. He was lying there, completely motionless, his head facing away from her. She tried to pull herself forward towards him, ignoring the pain in her muscles. When she reached him, she rolled his head round to face her. He was unconscious, with blood dripping from his nose and mouth.

"Doctor?" she whispered weakly. No response. "Doctor!" she cried, shaking him. "Doctor, wake up! Please!" she shook him more violently, but he didn't respond. She sobbed, putting her hand over her mouth as tears rolled down her face. She looked around desperately, but couldn't see anything more than a metre away from her. She wasn't sure how she could see anything at all, there seemed to be no light. It was also freezing cold, she watched as her breath condensed in front of her. But, on the plus side, she could breathe. The air had been so much thinner when they were falling, but now she could breathe a lot easier. The air was still thin, but just about breathable in. She looked up, but all she could see was darkness. She felt suddenly so alone, and looked back down at the Doctor. He couldn't be dead, surely. If he was dead wouldn't he just regenerate?

Then she remembered what had been said back in the war on that TARDIS. The metal had been poisoned, and he couldn't regenerate then, so maybe that was still the case now? A chill went through her as she realized that this might be it. He might be dead. But this had happened before, she'd thought she'd lost him and he'd ended up fine. He wasn't going to die now, surely. He couldn't.

"Doctor!" she shouted again, trying to wake him up. "Please wake up," she cried, shaking him. She leant down to his ear. "Help me," she whispered, but still nothing. She felt completely helpless. There was nothing she could do. She put the back of her hand near his mouth… but she felt nothing. Oh god, he wasn't breathing. A new surge of panic rushed through her. She quickly put her ear against his chest, but heard nothing. No heartbeat, not even from one heart. "No…" she whispered, numbed by fear. She tried to remember how to do CPR, and quickly held his nose and breathed into him. She then compressed his chest, and repeated the process until she was light headed due to the lack of air. She breathed deeply, trying to stay awake. She tried again, but still nothing happened, and she just felt more and more dizzy. Trying desperately to do it one last time, she finally collapsed on top of him, her body weak. "Doctor…" she whispered, before her eyes fluttered closed and she fell unconscious.

xxx

Jack stared at Theta.

"They've hit the ground," he repeated, checking he'd heard correctly. Theta nodded slowly.

"Yes," he said nervously, checking the read out on the screen.

"Are they… alive?" Jack hesitantly asked.

"Rose is," Theta replied, "But the Doctor…" he trailed off, staring at the screen.

"We've got to go down there!" Jack ordered, "We've gotta help him," Theta nodded quickly, switching buttons and dials as the engines started up again, and the TARDIS dematerialised.

xxx

_Rose was standing in a huge, dark empty room. She couldn't see anything around her, the air was cold and thin. _

"_Doctor?" she asked, looking around herself. "Doctor, are you there?" she was beginning to get worried. "Are you ok?" she started to panic. "Please be ok," she called to the empty room. _

"_Rose." She spun around to face the voice, and saw the Doctor standing behind her. She cried in relief, and ran up to him. She threw her arms around him and he hugged her back. _

"_I was so worried about you," she said, nuzzling her head in his neck. _

"_You don't need to worry," he said calmly, "don't worry about me. I'm going to be fine." She was slightly confused by his words. _

"_But you are fine," she said, "You're here." _

"_I know," he replied, "but don't worry about me, ok? I'm going to be fine," slowly Rose nodded, but she didn't understand what he was saying. "I love you," he whispered, before he was gone. _

"_Doctor!" she called to the empty room, looking for him. "Doctor!" _

"Rose! Wake up!"

She woke with a start, her eyes snapping open. She blinked as she saw Jack smile at her. "You ok?" he asked. She blinked at him, trying to remember what had happened. Then she looked at the Doctor suddenly, who was still lying there unconscious.

"Doctor!" she gasped, but Jack held her back.

"It's ok," he said, "We're going to save him." He helped Rose stand up. Rose noticed the TARDIS standing by them, light flooding out from the open doors. Now she could see him properly, and she noticed that his skin was completely white.

"Oh my god…" she whispered. Suddenly they were knocked off balance as the ground shook.

"Not again!" Jack moaned. "Get the Doctor in the TARDIS!" he said, and he and Rose picked the Doctor up between them. Theta, not being able to touch the Doctor, held the doors open for them and closed them once they were inside. "Theta get us out of here!" Jack ordered, as Theta started the engines up. Deneeal watched from the chair in the control room as Jack and Rose carried the Doctor down the corridor.

xxx

Rose and Jack put the Doctor on one of the beds in the med bay, as Jack began to scan him with his wrist device. Rose slumped in a chair next to the bed, as the aching in her muscles calmed down. She looked up at Jack as a worried look spread across his face.

"Jack?" she asked, not sure she wanted to hear what he was worried about.

"This isn't good," he muttered. Rose was getting increasingly nervous as his wrist device beeped and his expression looked even more worried. He lowered his wrist, as he tried to think of the best way to phrase what he was about to say. Rose was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say, and choked out a sob. "No heartbeat, not breathing…" Jack shook his head, "his body temperature's falling… there's nothing I can do," he said solemnly. Rose shook her head, refusing to believe this.

"But there must be _something_ we can do!" she cried, "I mean, he can't be dead!" she sniffed, fighting back the tears. Jack didn't say anything. "He said he'd be fine!" she sobbed, "He said not to worry 'cause he'd be fine…" Jack looked up at her hopefully.

"When'd he say that?" he asked.

"In my dream…" Rose said weakly.

"That's just a dream, Rose," Jack said sadly, "I think that's a bit of wishful thinking." She nodded sadly, wiping the tears from her eyes, which were quickly replaced by fresh ones. "I'll get Theta," said Jack, "maybe he'll know what to do." Jack walked out of the room, but Rose didn't even look. Nothing was right anymore. It wasn't fair.

She leant forward onto him, and rested her head on his chest. She looked at him, her vision blurred by tears, as she closed her eyes. She used to cuddle up with him sometimes like this, and listen to his heartbeats. But now there was nothing, just silence. Fresh tears rolled down her salty cheeks and soaked into his jacket.

Then she heard a heartbeat.


	29. Recovery

I see everyone's very grateful for that extra last line there :) thought you might be... oh and here's everyones David Tennant shaped cookie: O+ try it, it's very nice. :O doesn't let you put a less than sign! Just pretend there's a less than sign on that cookie...

A few people have said that the chapters aren't as good as before... um... I admit that this chapter isn't amazing, it sounded a little rushed when I read it back, but I couldn't seem to make it any better. I don't know, maybe I'm having some sort of weird writer's block.

And Shanks, don't worry, I also screamed 'no David!' at the screen while watching Recovery XD and for those who haven't seen it I expect it'll be on youtube soon if it isn't already.

Oh and when the Doctor makes the odd remark about his tongue, I thought, he really likes to lick things (have you seen how many things he lickes in the second series?!) so he probably is rather fond of his tongue. And why is he fond of his tongue? Well, it must be a particularly cool tongue that he hasn't had in any previous regeneration. I'm sure David Tennant's tongue is very cool, thing of eveything you could do with it... ahem.

I just had an idea. I could be really cheasy and call this chapter 'Recovery'... hmm...

Yeah! Let's call it Recovery! (of course you all already know it's called Recovery... oh well)

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Or Recovery.

xxx

Rose sat up suddenly, not believing her ears. Had she imagined that? Was it real? She leant back down on his chest again, listening intently. She waited for what seemed like eternity. Just as she was about to give up hope and dismiss it as a figment of her imagination, she heard another.

She leapt up out of her seat and squealed in delight, laughing as relief flooded through her. At that moment Jack and Theta came running into the room after hearing he scream.

"What is it?" Jack asked urgently, skidding to a halt in front of her.

"He's alive!" she cried happily, "I heard his heart beat! He's alive!" she threw her head back in laughter, as Jack stared at her, bemused.

"But I checked, neither of his hearts are beating," he said.

"Your watch is broken!" Rose laughed, and for once Jack didn't get mad at her for calling his very high-tech wrist device a watch. "He's alive! I heard his heartbeat! He's alive!" She dissolved into hysterical giggles, completely overwhelmed by relief. Jack turned back to the Doctor, who was being inspected by Theta.

"Well of course he's alive," Theta said, "he's not going to _die_, is he?" Rose's laughter died down as they both stared at Theta.

"What the hell?" Jack said, addressing no one in particular.

"He's in a sort of coma, a trance that allows Time Lords to heal any wounds," Theta explained. Jack stared at him.

"But he wasn't breathing, he had no heart beat, his body temperature is way below 0…"

"Yeah, all processes are kept to a minimum to ensure that all energy is put into healing. One heart beats about once every 10 seconds, they take one breath every few minutes, the body temperature falls so that less energy is lost as heat… but he's still alive. And when he's healed he'll wake up again," Jack and Rose stared at Theta for a few seconds, before Rose shrieked in laughter again. A smile came to Jack's face. Rose jumped at Jack and hugged him so hard he almost fell over.

As they celebrated in the med bay, Deneeal was bored out of his mind in the control room, so he decided to go outside and have a look around.

xxx

Rose sat on her own in the med bay with the Doctor. Theta had done some weird Time Lord stuff, and said that he'd probably wake up in about half an hour. That was about half an hour ago.

Theta and Jack had gone off to look for any information on who might be behind all this in the TARDIS library, so Rose had been left on her own. She'd been told to phone them if anything happened to the Doctor.

Over the last ten minutes she'd seen him beginning to breathe more often, as the colour came back into his face. She heard him groan quietly, and excitedly pulled her chair slightly closer to the bed, she watched impatiently, waiting for him to wake up. Finally his eyes began to flicker open.

"Doctor?" she whispered, resisting the urge to jump on top of him. "Doctor?" he frowned as he tried to focus on her until giving her a small smile.

"Hello Rose," he said, and she flung her arms around him and kissed him. He happily kissed her back, putting his arms around her waist. Rose never wanted to let go of him again, but she knew she didn't excatly have much choice, and they separated after a few seconds. She leant back in her chair but leaning in close to him.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Bit of a headache, but other than that great!" he said, sitting up in the bed. He moved over, and she gladly sat next to him. He looked at her. "What happened?" he asked, and Rose laughed.

"We fell and you did some weird dead-but-not-dead coma trance thing to heal yourself," she explained.

"I see," he said, thinking. "Oh yeah!" he suddenly said, surprising Rose. "I couldn't regenerate so I had to do that! Ooh, I couldn't regenerate. That's not good. Why couldn't I regenerate?"

"You couldn't regenerate before 'cause you were poisoned," Rose said.

"Oh yeah! Course, I remember. Right. Yes. Um…" he thought again for a second, a frown playing on his face. "Oh dear," he muttered.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"I um…" he looked around nervously, running a hand through his hair, "well, you know I'm half human? Well, doing the whole healing trance thing doesn't exactly work too well with me," he explained, "which is why I don't do it very often. Most Gallifreyans can do it fine, but whenever I try to do it…" he paused for a second as his frown intensified.

"Yes?" Rose prompted.

"Whenever I do it," he repeated, "I end up… um, well, I… um, I, er…" he looked at her, with a confused expression on his face. "Who are you?"

xxx

Deneeal was worried and lost. He couldn't find the TARDIS and had no idea where he was. He shivered as a cold breeze blew past him, some stones rolling across the ground. He walked into an empty space, looking around for the TARDIS. He was about to walk back the other way again, when he saw something. He walked towards it in curiosity, the lack of light not giving him a clear picture. As he got closer it almost looked like a person. He was less than a metre away when the person suddenly turned around. He stared as his eyes widened in fear.

xxx

Rose stared at the Doctor.

"What?" she whispered. He looked around the room.

"Where am I?" he asked, "What hap-" he paused, as he licked his teeth. "Have I regenerated?" he asked, running his hands over his body. "I think I have…" he looked around again, then back at Rose. "What happened?" he asked. Rose continued to stare at him.

"Doctor?" she whispered in fear.

"Is that my name?" he asked, looking away. "I didn't think that was my name… I could have sworn it was something beginning with T… t… t… to… ta… th… the… tha… ti… tra…" he looked at Rose again. "Why are you staring at me?" She didn't exactly know what to say. "Have I got something on my face?" his hands flew to his face, searching for anything wrong. His fingers ran over his lips, and he found himself putting a finger in his mouth. "I have a really cool tongue," he noted, sucking on his finger.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked, not being able to think of anything else constructive to say.

"I don't know," he answered, removing his finger from his mouth. "What did you say your name was?" he asked. The sudden realization that he couldn't remember her or anything that had happened dawned on her, and couldn't stop the tears falling down her cheeks. "Woa hey don't cry!" he exclaimed, surprised, "listen, calm down, what's wrong?" he pulled her into a hug, "What's your name?"

"Rose," she said quietly through her sobs.

"What's the matter, Rose?" he asked. She tried to wipe her tears away.

"You don't remember," she said quietly.

"No I don't," he agreed. She looked up at him.

"Don't you remember me at all?" she asked. He shook his head. She sobbed again. He tried to pull her into a hug, but she got off the bed and stepped back away from him, shaking her head.

"Come on don't cry," he said, trying to think of something to comfort her, but not remember even who he was he was finding that a bit hard. "Do I know you?" he asked. She almost had to laugh.

"Yes!" she cried, hardly able to believe this was happening, "I'm Rose you've been travelling with me for the last few years! You…" she paused, taking deep breaths as she tried to stop crying, "You love me," she said quietly. His eyebrows rose.

"I… do?" he said. Rose nodded. "Uh… right…" he didn't seem to know what to say to that. "Sorry, but, um, I don't remember you," he said, looking at her sympathetically. She sobbed again, looking away from him. Before the Doctor could do anything to help her, the door opened and Theta and Jack came in the room. "OOH!" the Doctor shouted suddenly, surprising them all, "I know you!" he exclaimed, pointing at Theta, "I know you! You are…" he patted his legs as he tried to remember. Jack and Theta looked at each other in confusion, then at Rose, who was still trying to wipe her tears away. "You are… um… um… you're… actually I don't know who you are. Who are you?" Theta and Jack looked at each other again, each as confused as the other.

"Doctor?" Jack said, but before he could say any more he was interrupted.

"Why do you keep calling me that?! I'm _sure _my name starts with T! Doesn't it?" he looked over at Rose, then back at Theta and Jack. "Who are you two?" he asked.

"Hey Doc, you ok?" asked Jack.

"No, I'm really not," he answered, "I don't remember a thing and I think I've upset Rose," they all looked over to Rose, who was still clearly upset. "You still haven't told me who you are," the Doctor said to Jack and Theta.

"I'm Jack and this is Theta-"

"THETA!" the Doctor yelled suddenly, "I knew it! HA!" he grinned to himself. They all gave him slightly odd looks. For some reason he was chewing his tongue.

Suddenly the Doctor screamed in pain and held his head. They all instantly ran to his side, as he pulled his legs up towards him, screaming.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"Oh my god! Someone help him!"

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"Where is he? Where's Deneeal!?"

"He's gone…"

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"And here he is, back for revenge."

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"When the owner of a TARDIS dies, the TARDIS dies with them. It won't be long before she's dead."

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

The Doctor's body shook as he choked from the pain.

"Oh my god! Someone help him!" Rose cried, as Theta and Jack tried to think of something to do. Then just as suddenly as it started, it was over. The Doctor looked up again, taking deep breaths. They watched him expectantly, but he said something that none of them were expecting.

"Where's Deneeal?" he demanded. They stared at him in bemusement for a few seconds.

"What?" Theta said finally.

"Where's Deneeal!?" The Doctor demanded again, with more force. "Where is he!" they stepped back, slightly scared.

"He's in the control room…" Theta said quietly, and the Doctor instantly jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.

xxx

The Doctor leaped into the control room, running around the consol looking for Deneeal. Theta, Jack and Rose quickly followed him in. The Doctor was running around anxiously, running his hands through his hair.

"Where is he? Where's Deneeal?!" the Doctor demanded. They looked around the room, as a sudden realization dawned on Theta.

"He's gone…" he whispered in horror. The Doctor leapt up to the consol and pressed some buttons, while looking at the screen.

"He's not in the TARDIS…" he said numbly, staring at the screen. Suddenly he gasped in pain and fell back from the consol, leaning against the railings behind him. He screamed as he clutched his head, doubling over. Then he looked up again, gasping for breath. "What just happened?" he asked, looking around. He scratched his head and glanced at the screen. "Who's Deneeal?" he asked.

"Your son!" Theta said angrily, running to the door, "And we need to find him!"

"I have a son?" the Doctor gasped.

"Yes, and he's in danger! Come on!" the Doctor looked at Theta blankly, then looked at Rose.

"Is he her son?" he asked, pointing at her.

"What? No! Why would he be?"

"Well apparently I love her," the Doctor said. Theta looked round at Rose, who blushed slightly.

"But she's not from Gallifrey," he said quietly. The Doctor shrugged. "I don't have time for this," Theta muttered, heading back for the door, "I'm going to find my son," and with that he walked out the door. Jack and Rose looked at the Doctor, expecting him to run out after Theta, but found him trying to touch his nose with his tongue. He saw them staring, and quickly put his tongue away.

"Sorry," he said quietly, looking down. He then looked up at Jack. "Who are you again?" he asked. Jack and Rose both sighed jointly. This was going to get annoying.

xxx

A/N: I know I don't usually put A/Ns at the end of chapters, but I just have to say that this chapter was NOT inspired by Recovery! I had this idea long before I'd even _heard _of Recovery. Any similiarities you may see are purely coincidental. Only the title was inspired by it. Now please review! XD


	30. Lost and Found

I think this is a rather short chapter, but it begins to pick up again after this!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him out of the TARDIS. Once they were outside, she stopped and looked back at the Doctor.

"Right," she said sternly, "now we are going to look for Deneeal. He's a small boy, about four years old, and he's lost out here somewhere," she explained, "ok?" he looked at her blankly, and nodded. "Good," she said, and began to drag him away from the TARDIS through the rocks. Jack walked off in the other direction.

xxx

Five minutes later, and they'd had no success. The only interesting thing that had happened was the Doctor suddenly remembering everything again, wanting to know if they'd found Deneeal, explaining that every time he was in pain like that he'd remember or forget but wouldn't be like that for long, then forgetting everything again.

Rose was getting fed up dragging him along like this. He didn't seem fussed that his son was in danger. He didn't seem fussed about anything, and it was annoying her.

"Where are we again?" he asked for the fifth time.

"Fibster," she answered.

"Where's that?"

"It's an asteroid."

"Why are we here?"

"We don't know."

"Then why come here?"

"We got teleported here."

"By who?"

"We don't know," Rose was getting fed up of this conversation. She'd had it too many times.

"Who do you think it is?"

"We don't know."

"Are they trying to kill us?"

"Probably. But we're still alive – we think they're toying with us."

"Or maybe they're just not very good at it," Rose couldn't help but crack a smile. He hadn't said that yet. "Do you think they've got Deneeal?"

"Hope not." They walked on again for another few minutes in silence.

"How do I know you?" he asked.

"You saved my life on Earth, then I travelled with you," Rose replied.

"How do I know Jack?"

"We met him after we'd been travelling for a few months and he came with us. Then we thought he was dead but we found him alive in Cardiff."

"Why did you think he was dead?"

"He was dead, and he got brought back to life, but we didn't know."

"How was he brought back to life?"

"I absorbed the time vortex and saved him."

"Wow! Really?" She smiled as he looked at her in awe. "Did it hurt?"

"I don't really remember."

"That's so cool!" Rose stifled a laugh. He was so childish like this. There were a few more moments of silence. "Why do I love you?" he asked. Rose paused for a moment, thinking.

"I… don't know," she said, as she tried to answer his question.

"You're really pretty," he said. Rose smiled as her cheeks took on a shade of red. "You're blushing," he commented, giving her a slightly lop-sided smile.

"Well it's nice to know you think I'm pretty," she laughed, "though I hope that's not the only reason you love me."

"I don't think so," he said genuinely. He seemed so childish and innocent like this, she couldn't imagine him lying. She watched him for a second, as he just waited for her to say something. As much as she wanted her Doctor back, she rather liked this Doctor. Without his past to trouble him, he was so much happier in an odd sort of way. It was hard to explain, really. She didn't look into his eyes and see the pain she saw before. She smiled at him.

"Come on," she said, turning around and walking forward, pulling him along by the hand.

"Deneeal!" Theta's voice shocked them as he ran in front of them. "Any luck?" he asked hopefully, but they both shook their heads. He looked more worried and angry at the same time. "Deneeal!" he shouted again, running past them.

"Dad?" they froze as they heard his voice.

"Deneeal?" Theta called again.

"Dad! Help me!" Deneeal shouted desperately, and instantly Theta was running. Rose pulled the Doctor along as she too followed the voice.

"Deneeal! Where are you?" Theta shouted.

"Dad!" Theta followed his son's voice into a clearing, scanning the area. Then he saw him. Theta ran across to where Deneeal was sitting, leaning against a rock. He fell to his knees by his son, who was shaking in fear.

"It's ok, it's ok," he cooed, pulling Deneeal into his arms. Rose ran next to him and knelt by them, as the Doctor stood watching, slightly confused, behind her.

"Is he ok?" Rose asked anxiously. Theta looked at him. He didn't look physically hurt, but he looked absolutely terrified. Theta hugged him again, trying to comfort him.

The Doctor watched, but his mind was elsewhere. He turned around as he heard something. Or, not so much heard it, but felt it. Slowly he began to walk away from Rose and Theta, towards the centre of the clearing. He looked around himself curiously.

"What did you see?" Theta asked Deneeal, waiting patiently for his son to answer.

"There was… a man…"

The Doctor looked straight up into the sky above them. It was night again, but there was still enough light to see. He frowned as a cold breeze blew past him. Something wasn't right.

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"Where's the Doctor?"

"He was right there…"

"He's gone."

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"And now, Doctor, I shall have my revenge!"

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

"You've got to stay in the TARDIS!"

"I have to help the Doctor!"

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

The Doctor shook his head violently trying to get the voices and images out. Where had that come from? He stumbled backwards, looking around anxiously. Was that going to happen? Was he going to… die?

"Jack!" he spun round as he heard Rose's voice, "We found him!" Jack ran out from the rocks, and joined Rose and Theta by Deneeal. The Doctor watched them nervously. Who was going to take revenge on him? It was hardly fair for anyone to do so when he didn't even remember what he'd done.

"What man did you see?" Theta asked, "Do you know who he was?" Deneeal shook his head.

"What did he do?" asked Rose.

"He… he…" Deneeal tried to speak through his sobs, "he hurt me… I… I don't know…" Theta held him tighter, more determined than ever to protect him.

The Doctor watched them, as memories began to come back to him. Little snippets of a past life. He saw images of planets, places, people. He remembered screaming and dying as everything burnt around him. He remembered pain, and loss. Hatred and anger. Guilt and loneliness. If this was his life… he didn't want to remember.

Then suddenly his world went black.

Rose and Theta tried to comfort Deneeal, as Jack looked around.

"Where's the Doctor?" he asked. Rose looked behind her, then started to get worried when she didn't see him.

"He was right there…" she said, standing up and looking around. Jack looked at his wrist device and told it to locate the Doctor. Rose watched him hopefully, but it beeped negative. Jack looked up at her and shook his head.

"He's gone," Jack said quietly. For a second none of them said anything.

Then they were running back to the TARDIS.


	31. Revenge

isn't sending out emails! I never realised how annoying that could possibly be... damn They'd better get it working again soon.

And we finally find out who it is! DUN DUN DUUUUUUN! And I thought I'd be nice to everyone here, I could have ended this on one hell of a cliffhanger, but I decided not to. Cliffhangers are beginning to annoy me, so I'm trying to keep them to a minimum. For now...

The villian here seems to act a bit like a James Bond villian :S that wasn't intended, I promise.

Once again, I was really mean to all characters involved here... I was in a bad mood while writing this, I felt like being mean! Torturing characters is a great way to releive the stress of drama coursework.

Oh, is sending e-mails again! Yay! XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

The Doctor groaned as he woke up. He was lying on the ground, and his head was spinning. He uneasily pushed himself up, and tried to look at what was around him. All he could see was darkness, but as his eyes adjusted he saw that he was on another part of the asteroid. There were walls of jagged rocks rising above him, and the night sky shining down. He looked up to the sky dazedly for a few seconds as he tried to focus his mind.

Then he remembered what happened. He must have been teleported here. On the plus side, he could remember everything now, but for how long he didn't know. He pushed himself forward and stood up, swaying for a second. He looked around the empty space surrounding him.

Then he saw someone. Standing a few metres in front of him, with their back to him. From what he could see it was a man dressed completely in black. He began to make his way forward. Suddenly a voice filled the air. It was deep and malicious, and seemed to be coming from every direction. It began to laugh, and the Doctor froze as he suddenly recognized the voice. It began to grow louder as he stared in fear.

"We meet again, Doctor," the voice said, as the man turned around. The Doctor tried his best to keep his composure, as he once again found himself face to face with the Black Guardian. A smile came across his face. "And this time, Doctor, I will not be defeated."

"We'll see about that," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "How did you get back then? Last time I saw you I was banishing you," he gave him a smug smile, but the Black Guardian laughed.

"And I have been banished for hundreds of years, but now, Doctor, I shall kill you for everything you have done to me!" His smile faded into a malevolent snarl, as he raised one of his hands. "You see Doctor, in the time I was banished the universe has been unbalanced. And now that I return…" he raised his hand next to his face, and crunched his fingers to form as fist. As he did this, one of the rocks jutting out from the wall behind him suddenly cracked and was crushed, as the fragments fell to the ground. The Doctor watched this slightly nervously. "I now have a new power over the universe," He began to smile again, a small, evil smile. The Doctor took a deep breath.

"And that's what you're going to do to me," he said.

"I shall _destroy _you!" he growled, "I shall disperse every particle of your being to the furthest reaches of eternity!"

"Ooh, that sounded familiar," the Doctor said, "Couldn't you have thought up a new threat by now?"

"I shall rip you limb from limb! I shall crush your bones and scatter what is left throughout the cosmos!"

"Bit more threatening," the Doctor muttered, "But I don't quite think so." The Black Guardian gave him a malicious snarl.

"And why is that?" he laughed mockingly. The Doctor just smiled, and held his arms up.

Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of ancient, grinding engines. The Black Guardian's smile began to fade as the TARDIS materialised around the Doctor. The Doctor gave him a little wave as he faded completely out of sight.

As the engines stopped the Doctor quickly ran up to the consol and started them up again.

"We've got to go!" he ordered, "We've got to leave! Now now now!" he leapt at the controls as the engines started up again.

"Where are we going?" Theta shouted from the other side of the consol.

"Somewhere! Anywhere! Doesn't matter! We just have to go!" the consol sparked and the room rocked around them, as the engines groaned and struggled. The Doctor and Theta stumbled back from the consol, covering their faces as sparks flew from it and smoke began to rise from it. "No no no no no!" the Doctor gasped, trying to use the controls but burning his hands as the consol exploded into flame. He quickly hit another lever and the noise of the engines decreased as the TARDIS landed. The sparks and flames died down, as the Doctor waved the smoke from around him. "Dammit," he muttered, leaning forward on the consol and burying his head in his arms.

"What happened?" asked Rose, walking up to him.

"He's controlling the TARDIS," came the Doctor's muffled voice, "not letting us leave."

"What? Who is?" the Doctor stood up and walked a few steps around the consol, stopping to lean restlessly on a railing.

"The Black Guardian," he answered.

"Who's that?" Rose asked.

"There are two Guardians – the black one and the white one, the black embodying all that is bad and evil in the universe and the white all that is good. For the universe to be balanced both must exist, but the Black Guardian wanted to rule and to bring chaos to the universe. Centuries ago I was sent to find the Key to Time, and the Black Guardian tried to get it off me but I stopped him and he followed me for a while trying to kill me. After that he tried to get someone else to kill me, but I stopped him then too and banished him from the universe. The White Guardian warned me that he'd return, angrier now that I had thwarted him twice. And here he is, back for revenge," the Doctor let out a long sigh, folding his arms.

"But Guardian's can't directly control the universe," said Theta, "so what's he going to do?"

"While he was banished he's gained these powers, and he can now control things. I don't know exactly how and right now I'm not too fussed I'm more interested in how I'm going to stop him," he paused, as he tried to think of a plan. "But what I don't understand is why he was toying with us like that. If he wanted me dead, he could have just killed me, he wouldn't risk me escaping, even if it meant he could torture me more. So why…" he paused again as he worked it out. "Because he wasn't. He wasn't toying with us at all, the whole time he _was _trying to kill us. Me in particular. The reason we're not dead is the White Guardian. He's been trying to _protect _us, acting as an opposing force to the Black Guardian. But now the Black Guardian is here…"

Suddenly the room shook as the consol sparked again, and a deep, unsettling voice filled the room.

"Come out, Doctor," it said teasingly, "I'm waiting." The Doctor looked nervously towards the doors. "You can't hide forever, your fate rests in my hands and I will have revenge!" the Doctor swallowed anxiously.

"Don't go out there," Rose said, running in front of him. He looked at her for a few moments in silence until the voice returned.

"You can't hide forever," it taunted, "I _will _have my revenge!"

"Please don't go out there," Rose begged. The room shook again as the lights flickered. "What's he gonna do to you?" Rose asked quietly.

"Oh, you know. The usual. Disperse every particle of my being to the furthest reaches of eternity, crush my bones… that sort of thing. Nothing too bad." Rose began to sob, and the Doctor pulled her into a hug. "Come on, I'll be fine," he said, "Last time I told you I'd be fine you didn't believe me and look at me now. Fine!" he smiled as she looked up at him in confusion.

"What?" she asked.

"That dream you had when I was unconscious. That was me. I was speaking to you telepathically 'cause I knew you'd be worried about me," she stared at him.

"That was real?" she whispered. He nodded.

The room shook again, more violently this time, as more sparks flew from the consol.

"I have to go," he said quietly, "Or he'll just kill us all." He leant down and kissed her, then ran for the door. "All of you, stay in here no matter what!" he warned, looking at each of them. "I mean it. _Don't _come out," he flashed them a quick smile, then walked out the doors.

The remaining people in the TARDIS stared at the doors for a second, then crowded around the screen as the security camera was turned on.

xxx

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, and saw the Black Guardian standing in front of him, a few metres away. A smile spread across his lips, as he began to lift his hand.

"Before you start," the Doctor said quickly, "Just tell me this – if you wanted revenge on me, then why bring the past me here as well? He hasn't even met you yet!"

"You will see," he said coldly, and began to form a fist.

"One last question!" the Doctor spluttered, his mind racing while he tried to think of an escape route, "Um, how did you get back here? After I banished you how did you return?"

"When you came back before the war you ripped open the universe," he said, "I simply followed." The Doctor nodded.

"One more thing-" he was suddenly cut off as the Black Guardian clenched his fist and he felt as if something was squeezing his insides.

"Enough questions," the Black Guardian said darkly, and the Doctor choked and gasped as he twisted his hand, his insides feeling as if they were being ripped and torn apart. "And now, Doctor, I shall have my revenge!" the Black Guardian said triumphantly, as the Doctor yelled in pain, feeling like he was being crushed from the inside out. Then suddenly he was thrown into the air as the Black Guardian lifted his arm, and smashed into one of the rocks above him. He was then thrown across into another rock, then thrown back on the ground. He lay helplessly on the ground, choking and gasping for breath, coughing up blood. His body arched up as once again the Black Guardian formed a fist.

xxx

Rose watched the screen in horror as they heard the Doctor cry out in pain. The TARDIS lights dimmed and flicked, as if she was suffering with him. She covered her mouth and felt weak as his agonised screams filled her mind. Finally she couldn't take it any more, and knew she had to help him. She ran from the screen and started to head to the door, but was held back by Jack.

"You've got to stay in the TARDIS!" he warned, holding her shoulders tightly.

"I have to help the Doctor!" she argued, fighting to escape his clutch. "Let me go!" she screamed, trying to get him off.

"I'm not letting you go, Rose! You're _not _going out there!" he pulled her against him and held her tightly as she tried to escape, but he was too strong for her. She gave up and rested against him, crying uncontrollably.

xxx

The Doctor was once again lifted upwards, then thrown down onto the ground. His body shook from the pain, and his limbs felt heavy. If he took much more of this then he'd have to regenerate… and if he did, then the Black Guardian would just keep going until he was out of regenerations. And that wouldn't take long; he only had three bodies left. Not that he could regenerate anyway, thanks to the bloody Daleks.

He was launched into the air again and thrown against more rocks. The Black Guardian held him up, suspended in the air, high above the ground. He yelled out in pain again as he felt like he was being crushed.

xxx

As Rose stopped fighting back, Jack made the mistake of loosening his grip on her, because just as he did the Doctor's screams filled the TARDIS again.

"No!" Rose gasped, and once again ran to the door.

"Rose!" Jack shouted after her, but this time he wasn't fast enough, and she ran out the doors.

xxx

The Doctor stopped screaming as the intense pain stopped. He slowly dared to open his eyes to see why the Black Guardian had stopped, and when he saw why his mind seized up and he was numbed by fear and dread as he saw Rose run out of the TARDIS.

"Rose! No!" he yelled, reaching out for her. Then suddenly he was falling as the Black Guardian dropped him. He tumbled through he air, his shattered mind thinking about nothing other than how to save Rose.

He hit the ground hard, instantly searching for Rose. He didn't have to look very far; she was hovering over the ground in front of him. His eyes widened and he stared, terrified, unable to move.

The Black Guardian smiled even more. He knew that the Doctor would feel _so _much more pain should anything happen to anyone he cares about, especially if he cares about them as much as he does for this person…

The Black Guardian clenched his fist, and Rose screamed as she suddenly felt nothing but pain. "No!" The Doctor cried, pointlessly reaching out to her, "_Rose!_" he threw himself to his feet in any attempt to help her, but searing pain suddenly filled his body as he stood up, and he fell to his knees.

"Doctor!" Rose cried desperately, "Help me!"

"Rose! No!" he yelled, her screams piercing his mind, "_Rose!_" he watched helplessly from the ground, unable to help her. Suddenly the TARDIS doors opened behind him, and Jack ran out carrying what looked like a very powerful gun, and it was – it was a time displacement gun. Jack braced himself and shot it directly at the Black Guardian.

A flow of energy flew from the gun and surrounded the Black Guardian, distorting the time and space around him. Rose was suddenly dropped, and the Doctor automatically leapt to his feet and ran to where she was falling. Somehow, despite the immense pain he was feeling, he managed to catch her. They both collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. They looked at each other for a second, then pulled each other into a hug. After a few seconds they separated.

"I'm going to be _fine_," Rose mimicked sarcastically. He gave her a weak smile.

"I told _you_ to stay in the TARDIS," he said.

"I had to help you," she said quietly. He lifted his hand to her cheek, smiling sadly.

"We can never take each other's advice, can we?" he said with a small laugh.

"Doctor!" Jack's voice shocked them back to reality. "Get in the TARDIS!" the energy field around the Black Guardian was beginning to fade. The Doctor and Rose helped each other up and began to run back to the TARDIS. They managed to reach it, and the Doctor started to open the doors when suddenly there was a bang from behind them, as Jack's gun ran out of power.

"No!" Jack gasped, quickly trying to charge the gun back up, but he was too late. Now angrier than ever, the Black Guardian dragged Jack from the ground and threw him against a rock.

The Doctor held Rose tightly as he tried to get her in the TARDIS, but they weren't quick enough. The Black Guardian pulled them both off the ground too. They tried to hold onto each other, but they were ripped apart. They both cried out each other's names as they tried to reach out to the other. The Black Guardian lined up Rose and Jack with the Doctor hovering on the other side. Then he clenched his fist.

xxx

Theta stood in the TARDIS, clutching Deneeal close to him. He could hear Jack and Rose's screams, but didn't know what to do. There was nothing he could think of to save them… unless the TARDIS had any sort of weapons. Right now it was the only thing he could think of, but he couldn't do anything until he closed the door. He put Deneeal down and began to edge towards it, trying to make sure the Black Guardian didn't notice him. He got to the door, and reached out to close it.

Then he was swept off his feet.

xxx

The Black Guardian stopped torturing Rose and Jack as he lifted Theta up from out of the TARDIS. He smiled as he saw the fear in Theta's eyes, and he knew exactly what he was scared of. He began to mentally look in the TARDIS for the last person.

xxx

Deneeal hid under the chair, shaking. He didn't know what to do. He knew better than to go out again, but he didn't want his dad to get hurt. But even if he did go out, what would he do? He pulled his legs close to him, shaking with fear.

Then he felt something pull at him. He cried as it began to pull him away. He clung onto one of the railings, but the force was too strong, and he was pulled out of the TARDIS.

xxx

Theta and the Doctor stared in horror as Deneeal was pulled out of the TARDIS. The Black Guardian threw them both to the ground, then clenched his fist.

Rose, Jack and Deneeal screamed as they were tortured.

"No!" The Doctor and Theta yelled. Theta could only watch, completely powerless to do anything. The Doctor jumped to his feet and ran in front of the Black Guardian. He didn't care about the pain anymore. He just ignored it.

"Stop it!" he demanded. "Stop this now! If you want revenge on me, then hurt me, not them! They didn't do anything to you, they don't deserve this!" but the Black Guardian didn't stop, he didn't even answer. The Doctor couldn't stand this any more. "Stop this or I _will _make you regret it!" he warned through clenched teeth. The Black Guardian relaxed his fist, and the screaming stopped.

"And how are you going to do that?" he laughed, flexing his fist. The Doctor looked at him darkly.

"Like this!"


	32. Victories, losses and old friends

I could have ended that last chapter on a particularly evil cliffhanger (which you will see in this chapter), but because I'm nice I decided not to! As I said cliffhangers are annoying me at the moment so I'm cutting down on them. Well, cutting down on the really evil ones anyway. But should the amount of reviews I get start to decline... the evil cliffies shall return! MWHAHAHAHA!! ahem.

This chapter contains a lot of mushy stuff, for which I apologise. I'll try to make it fluffier from now on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

The Black Guardian watched the Doctor in confusion as he ran over to Theta. But by the time he realised what the Doctor was doing, it was too late. The Doctor grabbed Theta's hand, and held it up. In that split second, in the centre of the clearing, a reaper flashed into existence. The Doctor pulled Theta towards the TARDIS as it began to fly towards them. Rose, Jack and Deneeal fell out of the air.

"You will not escape!" the Black Guardian roared.

"Yeah yeah, I've been told that before," the Doctor muttered. He pushed Theta into the TARDIS, and began to run towards Jack, Rose and Deneeal. The reaper screeched behind him as it struggled against the Black Guardian's controls. The Doctor scooped Deneeal into his arms and ran up to Jack and Rose. "Get in the TARDIS!" he ordered, "Don't stop just go!" he thrust Deneeal into Jack's arms, and they ran back to the TARDIS. The Doctor watched as the reaper broke out of the Guardian's control. Not being from the universe, the Guardian didn't have so much control over it. The Doctor expected it to attack the Guardian, but it didn't. He stared in fear as it turned around and headed for Jack and Rose.

Acting quickly, he pulled his shoe off and threw it at the reaper. It hit the back of its head, and it flew around to face him. He held his arms up and started jumping. "Come on! Come and get me, come on!" he taunted, waving his arms. The reaper flung its wings back and flew towards the Doctor. He began to edge his way sideways, as he picked up a rock and threw it at the reaper, which just made it angrier.

"What's he doing?" Rose hissed, watching from outside the TARDIS. Jack, Deneeal and Theta also watched in confusion.

The Doctor began to run as the reaper got closer, but he couldn't run faster than the reaper and it was soon catching up with him. Rose's breathe caught as the reaper had almost caught up, then she suddenly realised what he was doing, and for a moment the world stood still. The Doctor was running at the Black Guardian.

The Guardian began to back away, but the Doctor was already too close to him. The Doctor flung his arms around the Guardian and held on tight, refusing to let him escape. He looked up at the TARDIS, and the last thing he saw was Rose, before the reaper's wings descended over him.

The reaper's body glowed as it devoured its prey, then it disappeared as the cause of the paradox was gone. A long silence fell over the area, as Rose, Jack, Theta and Deneeal stared at the space the Doctor had just been. A long, solemn moment passed, but it felt like eternity.

Rose couldn't breathe. Her mind was empty as she stared, numbed by an overwhelming feeling of loss. For a long time nothing happened. Nothing connected in her mind. She stared numbly, unable to move or think.

For a long time, nothing happened. Nothing at all. Until finally Rose began to step forward. She walked numbly towards the point where he'd been eaten, her eyes not moving from that point on the ground. Then she trod on something… something soft. Hey eyes flicked to the ground, and she saw what she'd stood on. An old, dirty, white converse. _His _converse. She fell to her knees, and hesitantly reached out, and picked it up.

Then she broke down. She choked and sobbed desperately as tears flowed from her eyes. She held the shoe close to her, clutching it as if her life depended on it. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and dropped to her clothes, her cries echoing around.

Jack couldn't stand to watch, and ran forward to her. He too fell to his knees beside her, and pulled her close to him. He gently rocked her as she cried into his jacket, clutching the shoe. Jack rubbed her arm, holding her tightly, as he couldn't stop the tears escaping his own eyes.

xxx

A long time later, how long none of them knew or cared, Rose began to calm down. Not that she was any less heart-broken than before, she just didn't have the strength to go on crying. She took a few deep breaths, her eyes sore from rubbing them so much, her make up smudged down her face. She was shaking slightly, as she sat up away from Jack. He moved his hands, and watched her as she shook her head.

"This isn't it," Rose whispered, her voice breaking, "this can't be it…" she put her hand to her mouth, still unable to believe it.

"Rose," Jack said quietly, "you know there's nothing we can do."

"But there has to be!" Rose blurted out angrily, "We've thought this before and he was fine! You said before he was dead and he wasn't!" she began to punch his chest, as tears formed again in her eyes, "he can't be dead now!" she cried, as her punches stopped and she cried into him again, and he put his arms around her. "This has happened before," she whispered, pushing away from Jack, "he was eaten by a reaper before but he came back. Can't we just do whatever we did then?"

"Then it was because the paradox was fixed. This time the paradox was fixed _because _he's gone," Rose still refused to believe this.

"There's gotta be a way…" she whispered, looking out to the place he'd been. "He can't be gone…" she pulled her legs up towards her, still clutching his shoe. "He can't be…" Jack tried to hug her again, but she pushed him away. She refused to believe he was dead. There was always something they could do to save him…

Suddenly the area was illuminated by a bright, white light. Jack and Rose covered their eyes, until the light faded away. They looked up in confusion, and saw what looked like a wicker chair. They stared at it blankly for a second, before a man in a white suit appeared on it, fading into existence much like the TARDIS does. They continued to stare at him as he spoke.

"I am the White Guardian," he said with a small smile, lifting a glass of what looked like but probably wasn't wine to his lips.

"Nice to meet you," Jack said suavely holding his hand out, "I'm Captain Jack-"

"I know," the Guardian said. Jack brought his hand back. "I have come to tell you that it is possible to save the Doctor." Rose and Jack stared at him again for a second, before Rose threw her head back in laughter.

"I knew it!" she cried, "I knew we could save him!" the flung her arms round Jack, laughing hysterically, "He's going to live…" he dissolved into giggles. Jack looked at her oddly, then addressed the Guardian.

"How are we going to save him?" he asked.

"It is risky, but the Doctor has done much for me, I will overlook it and help you," the Guardian replied.

"Thank you," said Jack, "doesn't really answer my question though." The Guardian just gave him a smile, as he began to fade away again. "No! Wait!" Jack called, but the Guardian was gone. The chair too had disappeared. Jack sighed, as Rose calmed down and sat up next to him.

"So what are we doing?" She asked.

"I don't know," he answered.

"Oh," she said, disappointed. Just at that moment the TARDIS doors flew open as Theta came out, carrying a book, with Deneeal running after him.

"Right," he said, sitting in front of Rose and Jack, dropping the book on the ground. "Instead of crying for the Doctor we decided to see if there was anything we could do for him," he said, "And it's possible to save him!" he grinned proudly.

"We know," Rose and Jack said at the same time.

"Oh," he said, disappointed. Jack blinked and glanced at Rose, then back at Theta.

"Well come on! What do we have to do?" Rose asked excitedly.

"Yes!" he said, opening the book, "I did some research in the TARDIS library on reapers, and found this," he opened it to a page which was full of odd diagrams and symbols that Rose or Jack couldn't begin to understand. "You see, when someone gets eaten by a reaper, they're not exactly eaten, they're transported. They're taken to a sort holding dimension, where they stay unless the paradox is fixed and, effectively, the reapers never existed there, when they are transported back to this dimension."

"Like when we tried to save my dad," Rose said, "he died in the end anyway, so the reapers disappeared and everyone came back."

"Yeah, exactly like that," Theta agreed.

"So all we need to do is go to this holding dimension and get the Doctor?" Rose summarised. Theta took a long breath.

"It's… not that simple," he said. "You see, everything in this universe, this dimension, time, space, matter, life, everything is information stored in a certain way. In this dimension it is stored as we know reality, and we read that information using our senses, we see it and hear it and feel it. But in the holding dimension it's different. Information is stored as rows of data, much like a computer. As soon as you enter that dimension you too will become merely data, unable to control anything; your body, your mind, everything just stored as code. To get the Doctor out we would have to connect to that universe which can only be done when a reaper is in existence, then find his code, decode it, translate it back to this universe, transport it here, compile it, then, if we're lucky, he'll be here in one piece." Rose couldn't help but think he sounded a lot like her Doctor when he explained things.

"So you can do that, right?" she asked. He took another long breath and shook his head.

"It's a lot of data," he said, "a lot to do, a lot of calculations. We'd have to cause a paradox then do all that while the reaper was in existence. Even the smartest of Time Lords would have a hard time doing it. And it's very risky, this is only a theory, if one bit was wrong it could rip apart the universe."

"The White Guardian said that he'd look over us, make sure it didn't go wrong," Rose said quickly. Theta looked at her.

"You met the White Guardian?" he asked. They both nodded. He shook his head. "Anyway," he continued, "that means it's less likely to go wrong. It's still too much work for one person to do."

"Can't we go back to Gallifrey," suggested Jack, "find someone else to help?"

"Not likely," Theta laughed, "This is amazingly risky, we'd never find another Time Lord crazy enough to do it." A moment passed as they sat in silence.

"You sure you couldn't at least try on your own?" Rose asked quietly.

"I'm not going to be able to do it alone," he said.

"I can help you," the three of them spun round suddenly as a voice came from behind them. They stared for a few seconds at the man standing behind them, dressed in black, his arms folded, giving them a small smile. At first glance Rose thought it was the Black Guardian, but she could see it was a different person.

"Where'd you come from?" Jack exclaimed, surprised that he'd been watching them.

"I've been here for a while," the man answered suavely.

"Who are you?" Theta asked cautiously.

"Come now, don't be so suspicious," the man said, "I am an old friend of the Doctor's, and I've come to help him. He has helped me many times." The three of them looked at each other. Despite his slightly odd demeanour, he seemed trustworthy. And if he wanted to help the Doctor he was clearly on their side. They looked back up at him.

"Who are you then?" Rose asked.

"Pardon me for being so rude," the man apologized, "Allow me to introduce myself," a small smile came to his lips. "I am the Master."


	33. Rescue

Ok, I guess last chapter was a bit of an evil cliffhanger. Maybe I should have mentioned that when I don't like cliffies I mean I don't like omg-the-doctor/rose/jack-is-going-to-die! cliffies. Everything else is ok in my books though. XD

I've got so much work I woke up extra early just so I could post this! So be greatful!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Theta and the Master were at the TARDIS consol carrying out calculations as to how to save the Doctor, while Rose and Jack watched from the other side of the room. Rose watched a bit absent-mindedly, concentrating more on trying to get the dirt out of her clothes. They'd been waiting like this for ten minutes now and she'd gone beyond worrying about whether it was going to work or not.

Jack, however, was watching them suspiciously, with his arms folded. So far he'd been very tight-lipped around the Master.

"Do you think we can trust him?" he asked Rose. She looked up them as they worked.

"Yeah, course," she said. "Why don't you trust him?" Jack shifted against the wall he was leaning on.

"I don't know," he said thoughtfully, "there's just something not right about this."

"Why are you so suspicious?" Rose asked slightly angrily, "What has he done to make you not trust him?"

"Nothing," Jack answered, "just a gut feeling." Rose sighed and decided to ignore him. "Think about it," Jack said, "if he's a friend of the Doctor, why hasn't the Doctor mentioned him before?"

"The Doctor never mentions any of his old friends," Rose muttered, "He never mentioned Sarah-Jane."

"Ok then, so how did he get here? How did he know the Doctor was here?" Rose sighed angrily.

"He told us, his TARDIS told him he was here. He went to the Academy with the Doctor and studied to become a Time Lord with him, but when the Doctor wanted to go travelling they agreed they'd stay in touch and his TARDIS is programmed to tell him whenever the Doctor comes back to Gallifrey," she said, repeating everything the Master had told them. Jack thought through his story.

"Theta said he hadn't met the Master yet," Jack thought aloud, "which means he hadn't been to the Academy and isn't a Time Lord. So the Master in this time of Gallifrey shouldn't know the Doctor. So why is this Master that does know the Doctor here? The Doctor said it was against the law to travel to different times on Gallifrey."

"Well chances are if he's a friend of the Doctor's and still was friends with him even after the Doctor left Gallifrey then he wasn't exactly brilliant at keeping to the law himself," Rose said, "we know the Doctor was never one to stay in line." Jack and Rose watched them as they continued to work unaware of their conversation.

"Why won't he tell us his name," Jack wondered, "Why call himself 'the Master' if he doesn't have something to hide?"

"The Doctor calls himself 'the Doctor'."

"The Doctor has a good reason."

"I'm sure the Master does too." Jack shook his head. He didn't care what Rose said, there was something about the Master that he found suspicious. "Like it or not he's the only hope we've got of saving the Doctor," Rose said. Jack sighed; he knew she was right.

Deneeal came running into the room, holding some device that Theta had told him to get. Theta took it off him and plugged it into the TARDIS.

"Theta trusts him," Rose said quietly to Jack.

"I know," Jack said, "but Theta knows the Doctor is him in the future, so will do anything to get the Doctor back."

"Don't _you _want the Doctor back?" Rose gasped disbelievingly.

"Of course I do!" Jack retorted, "I'm just worried about why _he _wants the Doctor back." Rose sighed and walked up to the consol, deciding to ignore Jack from now on.

"Hows it going?" she asked.

"Not exactly brilliantly," Theta muttered. He pressed another button, and the TARDIS lights flicked and faded for the third time.

"Why does she keep doing that?" Rose asked.

"She's dying," the Master answered. Rose and Jack stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?" Rose whispered.

"When the owner of a TARDIS dies," the Master began to explain, "the TARDIS dies with them. It won't be long before she's dead, which is why we must hurry." He pulled the screen round to face him and started twisting various dials. As he did, the lights flicked and went dimmer as the gentle hum of the engines grew quieter. "This isn't going to work," he said eventually, "this TARDIS does not have enough power to do what we need." He stood back from the consol.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Rose.

"We shall have to use my TARDIS," he answered. He gave Rose a small smile. "We shall also require your help." Rose frowned. Before he'd been adamant that there was nothing she or Jack could do to help.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"We will need to have something that has a strong connection with the Doctor. If we were to use this TARDIS you would not be needed as the TARDIS has a connection with him, however my TARDIS doesn't. And I understand you two have… a very close relationship," he gave her a look, and she found herself backing away. "I'll need to connect you to my TARDIS…"

"_Connect _me?" Rose gasped, "What do you mean, connect me?"

"I told you, we need someone with an emotional attachment to him," the Master said simply, then he turned to the door. "Come along," he said as he walked through the room and went outside.

xxx

"I really don't trust him," Jack said as they walked through the maze of rocks to the Master's TARDIS. Theta, Deneeal and the Master were walking a few metres ahead of them.

"So he's a bit creepy," said Rose, "he's still trustworthy."

"Rose, he wants to _connect _you to his TARDIS!"

"He needs someone with an 'emotional attachment' to the Doctor."

"I have an 'emotional attachment' to the Doctor!"

"Well maybe they need a really strong 'emotional attachment' to the Doctor! I don't know," Rose stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"It just doesn't sound safe," Jack muttered.

"What do you know about this?" Rose muttered back. "Theta seemed to agree."

"Theta just wants the Doctor alive."

"So do I." Jack rolled his eyes. "I don't know why you don't trust him."

"Like I said before, gut reaction." They saw the Master walk up to a large rock in front of him and, almost magically, open a door. "Looks like his chameleon circuit's working," Jack observed.

"Evidently," Rose said. They carried on up to the TARDIS and followed Theta in.

xxx

Jack and Rose looked around in surprise as they entered the Master's TARDIS. It was almost completely white, with large circles on the walls. There were various machines scattered around, and the screen was much bigger and on the wall rather than attached to the consol. The central consol was neat and ordered, with the controls in rows, a bit like the TARDIS that had been in the war. Rose wondered briefly if all TARDIS consoles were like that, and it was only the Doctor who liked his the way it was. It wouldn't surprise her.

Theta and the Master walked up to the consol and started working again, as Deneeal stood to the side and watched them. Jack and Rose watched them in silence.

"Yes!" the Master said triumphantly, "this is going to work," he smiled to himself as he and Theta watched the screen on the wall as information scrolled down it. "It is only a matter of time now," the Master said. He turned to Rose. "Come now," he said, holding his hand out to her, "you are needed." Rose glanced over at Jack, who shook his head slightly. "Do you wish to save the Doctor?" the Master asked, and Rose couldn't refuse. She walked slowly up to the consol, but kept her hands firmly by her side, refusing to take his. He gave her a slight frown, and took his hand away. "Step onto that panel," he said, indicating one of the floor panels. She stepped onto it. "Now hold onto these," he pointed to two small poles sticking from the consol. She wrapped her fingers around the cold metal, and felt a spark in her mind. "Good, now, think of the Doctor. Think of nothing else but the Doctor." Rose nodded.

"Anything I can do?" Jack asked. The Master looked at him.

"No," he said, beginning to walk around the consol, "There is nothing you can-" he suddenly stumbled over Deneeal. He looked down at him, then back up at Jack. "Look after the child," he said, then went back to the consol. Jack sighed as Deneeal walked up to him.

The Master lifted some levers on the consol, and they heard the engines powering up. Theta positioned himself by what looked like a keyboard on the consol, and the Master stood by another one. He glanced up at the screen, which had what looked like a countdown on it. One symbol changed to another, until one final hexagon was all that was left. He looked out to the rest of them. "Ready?" he asked calmly, and they nodded. He turned to Theta. "Initiate the paradox," he ordered. As Theta began to input a code on the keyboard, Rose closed her eyes and tried to think of the Doctor.

Then suddenly, as the room shook and the engines powered up, everything in her world went black.


	34. Give Her Back To Me

Hello again! Last chapter wasn't meant to be terribly cliff hangery, but aparently it was anyway... whoops. Sorry. Oh well you've got the next chapter now so it doesn't matter XD

I meant to say in the previous A/Ns that the Master is currently in the first body we saw him in, played by Roger Delgado.

I don't think this chapter is particularly amazing, in fact I don't think it's very good at all. I mean I don't think it's very well written, but as for what happens in it... well, I rather like it XD

Aahh I'm so bad at thinking up chapter names. I wish I'd just stuck to numbering them rather than naming them, it seems to be getting harder and harder to name them with each chapter. Maybe a brilliant chapter name will hit me between now and clicking the 'add' button on the stories page. I doubt it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

The bottom fell out of Rose's mind and she felt numb as her mind connected to the TARDIS. The breath was sucked from her lungs and her limbs felt weak and heavy. She could feel the TARDIS coursing through her and couldn't move to stop it even if she tried.

Jack instantly stumbled to the floor as his feet were thrown out from beneath him. Everything seemed to become a blur around him, as he heard nothing but the groaning noise of the struggling engines. He could just about hear Deneeal crying out next to him, grabbing hold of his leg. The Master and Theta were shouting things at each other, not that Jack could hear them over the noise of the engines. Even if he could hear them he probably wouldn't have a clue what they were saying.

Then suddenly he heard a woman's scream and knew it was Rose. This was a bad idea, he'd known they shouldn't have trusted that guy. He was hurting her or doing something to her, but Jack couldn't seem to find his feet to get up and help her. Struggling to his hands and knees, he tried to stand up, only to fall over again. He was sure that the room was actually melting away around him, and he felt dizzy and light headed.

Suddenly the room was filled with a bright, blinding light and for a few seconds all Jack could see was white. As the light gradually began to fade, he lowered his hands from his face and opened his eyes. The light was spilling from the central console, filling the room. The Master yelled something at Theta, and they both pulled a lever each, and suddenly the light was beginning to concentrate itself. Jack squinted and raised his hand again as the light became brighter and brighter. There was a sudden blinding flash, and the next time Jack opened his eyes he saw the Doctor laying on the floor.

Jack gasped in amazement, surprised that it had actually worked. The room began to stop shaking and the engines quietened. Theta and the Master were still running around the consol madly switching buttons and dials. Jack quickly jumped up and ran to the Doctor and knelt by him.

He scanned the Doctor with his wrist device, which showed weak life signs, but they were getting stronger by the second. He stared at the Doctor, absolutely stunned.

Then he heard a crash behind him as Rose collapsed. He spun around and rushed to her. She was slumped against a machine, unconscious.

"Rose!" he called as he reached her, shaking her in an attempt to make her wake up. He looked to his wrist device to check she was ok, but as he did her eyes suddenly snapped open. She choked and lifted her hands to her head, doubling over. "Are you ok?" he asked, lowing himself down to her.

"My head…" she whispered, taking deep breaths. She groaned weakly as Jack tried to get her to sit up. "Doctor!" she gasped suddenly, throwing herself up, "Where's the Doctor…" she began to stumble and Jack jumped up to support her. "Did it work?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes, he's fine, calm down," Jack replied.

"Where is he?" Rose walked forward and began to stumble again. Jack quickly lead her out of the way before she walked into the Master and lead her round to where the Doctor was lying. "Doctor!" she shouted, running next to him. She threw herself to the floor and wrapped her arms around him, crying in ecstasy.

"He's not awake, Rose…" Jack said, but she wasn't listening to him. He smiled to himself as he watched her.

Finally the engines stopped as the TARDIS landed.

"We must get him to his own TARDIS," the Master ordered, "he will wake quicker." Jack nodded, and together they managed to separate Rose from the Doctor and carried his body outside and through to his TARDIS.

xxx

Rose sat on a chair next to the bed in the med bay, watching as the Doctor lye unconscious on it, as Jack, Theta and Deneeal watched him too. It wasn't the first time she'd been in this situation and she hoped never to be in it again. Not only did it mean the Doctor was hurt, it was also very boring.

The Master finished the scans he'd been doing of the Doctor and turned to the other three people in the room. "He will wake up soon," he informed, "he needs to recover, then he will be back to normal." He looked at the Doctor and watched for a few seconds. "Do not tell him I am here," he said after a while, "Tell him to meet me on Gallifrey."

"Why?" Rose asked, looking up at him.

"I want it to be… a surprise," he said with a smile. Rose was still too happy about the Doctor being alive to notice the slyness in his voice. The Master began to walk towards the door.

"Where do we tell him to meet you?" Jack asked. The Master turned back to them.

"He will know," the Master replied, then began to head back to the door.

"Thank you," Rose said quickly. He turned back to face them again, and Theta and Jack also said a thank you.

"You don't need to thank me," the Master said with a laugh, "after all, a cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about." He gave them one last smile, then left the room.

xxx

It wasn't long later that the Doctor started to stir. He could vaguely hear voices saying his name as his consciousness slowly came back to him. Groaning, he tried to open his eyes but before he managed to do so he suddenly had the wind knocked out of him as Rose flung her arms around him in a hug.

"Rose!" he choked, pushing himself up in the bed. She pulled away from him, and he opened his eyes to meet hers. "Hello," he said with a weak smile.

"Hello," she replied, her voice full of relief. His smile began to fade into an expression of confusing. "What happened…?" he asked, "What… why am I… oh, hello," he added as he saw Jack and Theta.

"Nice to see you again Doc," Jack said, grinning.

"Yeah," he breathed, "Why am I alive?"

"We brought you back," Rose said with a laugh, "you got eaten by a reaper and we found a way to bring you back." He stared at her for a few seconds.

"That's possible?" he said. Rose gave him a surprised look. "I mean of _course _I knew it was possible!" he added quickly, but Rose wasn't laughing.

"Did you really think you would die?" she asked quietly. They locked eyes for a few moments, until the Doctor gave a small nod.

"But I'm alive!" he said quickly before Rose could say anything more, "Look at me! Alive!" he gave her a big grin and she couldn't help but give him a small smile back. "Speaking of which – how _am_ I alive?" he asked, looking round the three of them.

"It's complicated," Theta muttered. The Doctor nodded slowly.

"Someone helped us," Rose said with a big smile, "he said he was an old friend of yours, and studied to become a Time Lord with you."

"Really?" the Doctor said, confused, "who is it?"

"He said to meet you on Gallifrey."

"Where on Gallifrey?" Rose shrugged.

"Dunno, he didn't say."

"He said you'd know where to go," Jack added.

"Well, I don't know where to go," the Doctor said, "so you'd better tell me who it was." Rose decided that if the Doctor didn't know, they might as well tell him.

"He said he was called-" before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly disappeared. The Doctor stared in bewilderment.

"What the…?" he looked around the room, as Jack and Theta also looked around in surprise. The Doctor then jumped off the bed and dashed out of the room.

xxx

He ran into the control room and was instantly on the controls, looking at the screen urgently awaiting an explanation. Jack and Theta ran in after him.

"What the hell just happened?!" Jack demanded.

"Teleport," the Doctor answered, staring at the screen, "someone teleported her. I'm tracing it now," the engines started up and he read the data flowing across the screen. "But that's impossible! They can't do that in a TARDIS…" the screen beeped, and he stared at the writing now on it. "Oh my poor TARDIS…" he muttered, rubbing the side of the consol.

"What now?" asked Jack.

"Whoever teleported Rose was in here tampering with her, reducing the defences. And because I was dead, she was dying too, she was too weak to stop it." He looked up at Jack. "Who was it? Who was in here?" Before Jack could answer, the engines suddenly stopped as the TARDIS landed. "Oh, looks like we're going to find out now anyway." He ran across the control room and out the door.

xxx

When the Doctor stepped outside, the first thing he noticed was that he was in another TARDIS. The next thing he noticed was Rose lying unconscious on the floor. "Rose!" he gasped, and ran to her side. He knelt by her, and reached out to touch her. But as he did so he felt his hand hit something. There was something solid around her, like a force field. He ran his hand over it's domed shape. He then pulled out the sonic screwdriver, just as Jack and Theta walked out the TARDIS.

"Is she ok?" Jack asked, jogging towards them.

"I don't know, there's some sort of force field, it won't let me touch or scan her," he banged his fist angrily against the invisible force around her, sighing angrily. Suddenly there was a voice from behind them.

"Hello again, Doctor," the voice said darkly. The Doctor and Jack both spun round in surprise. For a few seconds all the Doctor could do was stare.

"What have you done to Rose?!" he demanded suddenly, jumping up and running up to the Master, "_What have you done to her!_"

"Please don't shout in my face," the Master said calmly.

"I'm warning you, if you've hurt her…" the Doctor somehow managed to suppress his anger, but they could all see just how angry he was – his body was shaking.

"She's not been harmed," the Master said.

"Prove it," the Doctor demanded. The Master lifted his fingers and clicked.

Rose gasped for breath as she woke up suddenly. She looked around herself in surprise and fear. The Doctor ran to her side, as she pushed against the force field around her.

"Doctor…" she cried, as he knelt by her side. He put his hand against the force field, and she put her against his, watching him in fear.

"How very sweet," the Master mocked, standing above them. Rose and the Doctor looked up at him.

"Release her!" The Doctor demanded.

"Why would I do that?" the Master asked. The Doctor stood up and walked back up in front of him.

"I'm warning you, if you don't release her-" before he could finish his sentence, the Master once again clicked his fingers, and Rose fell unconscious again. The Doctor looked down at her and knelt by her again. "How are you doing that?" he asked in a hushed voice, staring at Rose in complete bewilderment.

"It's very simple," the Master replied, "She looked into my TARDIS. Connected herself with it, in order to get you back. But in doing so, my TARDIS infiltrated her brain… it runs through her and controls her. And I control my TARDIS." The Doctor slowly stood up, still looking down at Rose. The Master looked down at her, as the Doctor stepped towards him.

"Give her back to me," he said in a quiet yet demanding voice. The Master gave him a sly smile, then walked next to Rose. He knelt by her side as the Doctor stood away from them, watching.

"But why would I do that?" he asked, lowering his hand to her. His hand passed through the force field and he rested it on her cheek. "I control her." Suddenly she flung her head back and screamed in pain.

"Don't touch her! Leaver her alone!" The Doctor yelled, running towards the Master. Before he could reach them, the Master lifted his hand and held it up, and the Doctor stopped.

"You can't save her," he said darkly, standing up to meet the Doctor's level, "unless you do as I say." The Doctor stared at him, but he knew there was nothing he could do.

"What do you want?" he said finally. The Master smiled.

"It may strike you as odd," he replied, walking slowly around the room, "but I have come for your help." There was a pause.

"You're right," the Doctor said finally, "It does strike me as odd." The Master gave a hollow laugh. He stopped walking, and looked at the Doctor.

"You have been in the Time War, I assume?" the Master said. The Doctor's eyes widened.

"You… know about the Time War?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Oh yes," he replied, "I fought in it, for a time." He started walking around again. "I do love it when you're confused Doctor, it happens so rarely."

"Just explain," the Doctor said wearily.

"I was revived by the Time Lords, after you killed me…"

"I didn't kill you, that was self defence."

"…After you killed me, and they said that if I was to help in the War, they would give me a new cycle of regenerations. Of course I took the offer, as you can see." The Doctor nodded; the Master was in the first body he had met him in. "However, during the War, there was a slight malfunction…" he paused for a moment, "I was thrown back into this time period with my TARDIS, and I cannot return to the war. And I know that the universe must remain in this condition, otherwise the war will be altered and therefore so will my own time line. Causing, as you know Doctor, a paradox." A smile came to the Doctor's face.

"I get it," he said, "you can't take over the universe because then the war won't happen. So you're stuck here now with nothing to do."

"One way of putting it." The Doctor folded his arms.

"So what do you want me to do?" he asked.

"I want you to take me to after the war," the Master replied. The Doctor sniggered.

"I'm not going to take you to after the war," he said simply.

"If you don't…" the Master raised his hand threateningly, flexing his fingers. As he did so, Rose's body began to tense as her breathing increased.

"Ok ok!" the Doctor said quickly, and the Master lowered his hand. The Doctor looked down at Rose as the Master spoke.

"You will take me and my TARDIS to after the War, and in return I will release Rose, unharmed," the Doctor looked back up at him, as a sly smile came to his lips. "Do we have a deal?"

"I still have more parts to get," the Doctor said quietly.

"Better hurry up and get them then," the Master replied. "And you need to return your previous self to his time line. We don't want any paradoxes now, do we?" the Doctor glared at the Master for a long moment, but had no choice but to give in.

"If you do anything to Rose…" he warned.

"She will be _fine_," the Master assured him with a big smile that gradually faded, "now go." The Doctor stared at him for a moment longer, before turning around and heading back. Jack and Theta also went back into the TARDIS. The Doctor reached the TARDIS doors, and turned back to the Master. He took one last look at Rose, then entered the TARDIS.


	35. After the Time War

Right, I warn you now, this is going to be a long A/N, but I do advise reading it as I think it is a very important issue.

As I'm sure many of you have heard, in the next series the Doctor and Martha kiss not once but TWICE. Is this the stupidest thing ever or what?? Now I'm a big 10rose shipper so this has annoyed me to the point of making a list of situations in which it is acceptable for the two of them to kiss:

1. One of them requires CPR.

2. One or both has been possessed by someone else like in New Earth and they cannot control themselves.

3. They are on a planet of perverted aliens and are forced to kiss under penalty of death.

4. The Doctor is on extremely powerful drugs that make him hallucinate, and he believes the Martha is Rose and announces very loudly that he loves her and kisses her.

5. Martha realises that David Tennant – I mean the Doctor – is in fact the sexiest man in the universe (he is!) and demands a kiss of him, holding him at gunpoint.

Also it is always acceptable for Martha to snog him, as long as he is thoroughly freaked out by it and does not disappear through the fireplace yelling 'I JUST SNOGGED MARTHA JONES!' It is also acceptable for him to kiss her on the forehead, as he kissed _Mickey _on the forehead and so it is clearly meaningless.

Russell T Davies therefore has 7 situations he can choose from. Honestly, they shouldn't kiss, he needs to get a sense of continuity. I'm almost tempted to turn that into a story now… 'A series of acceptable events for the Doctor and Martha kiss'… keep an eye out for it.

Oh, and has anyone seen the new trailer? It's on the website if you haven't and probably on youtube. Good points: she gives him CPR! Ha! I was right! (I only just watched the trailer before I wrote that) Bad points: HE snogs HER which was NOT on my acceptable list and he's kinda holding her bridal style at one point, which is also not acceptable. Maybe when he snogs her it's because she's been silly and eaten some sort of alien poison and he has to save her…

Disclaimer: After all that, does it look like I own Doctor Who?

Anyway, about the story. This chapter was hell to write, I couldn't seem to make it work properly. So I hope it's ok, but it's not brilliant, I personally think. After reading that A/N you've probably forgotten what happened in the previous chapter, so I will start by reminding you.

The Doctor has just found out the love of his life has been brutally kidnapped and is now very angry (and slightly scared about the fact that he may have to kiss Martha bloody Jones) and has just gone into the TARDIS…

xxx

The Doctor instantly ran up to the consol and started the engines. He angrily hit the controls, sending sparks flying. The TARDIS shook and the lights flickered, almost as if she was scared of his anger. Suddenly the room jerked as he hit the wrong button and he was thrown into the railings. He jumped back forward and tried again, but as the room shook again he was thrown into the chair.

He stood up again, but Jack could see this was going nowhere. The Doctor kicked the consol as the TARDIS didn't do what he wanted and Jack ran up to him.

"Calm down!" he shouted.

"I am calm!" the Doctor shouted back. Jack pulled him away from the consol and grabbed his wrists.

"Just relax! Ok? Rose is going to be fine! The Master won't do anything to her because he knows that if he does you won't do what he wants. He doesn't have any reason to do anything to her." The Doctor took deep breaths as Jack stared him down.

"He doesn't need a reason," the Doctor muttered, "he'll hurt her anyway."

"Look, just park the TARDIS seconds after you left, ok? Then he won't have time to hurt her," Jack reasoned. The Doctor nodded, as Jack let go of his wrists.

"Yeah," he said quietly, going back to the consol. Jack watched as he began to control the TARDIS much calmer. The Doctor looked up at Theta and Deneeal. "We've gotta get you back," he said, changing the TARDIS's route. He looked back up at them as the TARDIS began to travel back to where they'd been before. Deneeal was even paler than before, and was sweating and shaking. "Is he ok?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know," Theta answered quietly, sounding almost scared.

"How long has he been like that?"

"Since we found him after he went missing," Theta looked down at his son, "he just keeps getting worse." Deneeal was taking shallow breaths, and Theta held him tighter. "He will be ok, won't he?" Theta asked the Doctor hopefully. For a moment the Doctor didn't answer.

"Yeah, yeah," he said quickly, looking away. "He'll be fine," he pressed some more buttons and looked at the screen. Theta didn't seem to notice his hesitancy, but Jack wasn't so easily fooled. He walked up to the Doctor, lowering his voice so he wasn't heard.

"You ok?" he asked, but the Doctor deliberately ignored him.

"Stand over there," he ordered, pointing at one of the panels on the floor. Theta did as he was told, and the Doctor positioned himself on the opposite side of the TARDIS consol. After a moment of adjusting the controls, he looked back up at Theta and Deneeal.

Theta felt a chill go down his spine as his future self watched him and his son with a deep sadness in his eyes. But before he could say anything, his world went black.

Jack watched as Theta and Deneeal disappeared with a spark, as they were teleported back. He then looked back at the Doctor, who was watching the space with an expression of extreme loss and sadness.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and the Doctor quickly shook his head and looked down at the controls.

"Nothing," he muttered, "just worried about Rose." It didn't take a genius to tell that the Doctor was lying, but Jack decided it was probably better to ask him about it later.

"You don't need to worry about Rose," Jack said, despite the fact that he was pretty sure the Doctor was currently worried about something other than Rose. The Doctor suddenly shot his head up and looked at Jack.

"Why not?" he demanded, "what's not to worry about?"

"I told you, he won't hurt her because he knows that if he does you won't do what he wants." The Doctor shook his head at him as if he was a small boy that just asked if cars could fly.

"He could hurt her until she was near death and I'd still do what he said if I could get her back," he said quietly. A long moment passed, as Jack had to agree. "He may have said that he wouldn't hurt her, but since when has an evil person ever done what they say?" the Doctor said, watching Jack for a second, then looking back down at the controls. After a few more seconds the TARDIS landed, and the Doctor ran out the doors.

xxx

Rose sat on the floor of the Master's TARDIS, her arms wrapped around her legs. She only just had enough room to sit up under the invisible force field she was under. The Master was sitting on a seat above her. He had apparently woken her up because he'd gotten bored of waiting for the Doctor to return, and, it seemed, he wanted to see what her reaction was if he told her the Doctor wasn't coming back for her.

"He's been gone for hours," the Master said mockingly, "He's clearly not coming back."

"Shut up." Rose was almost certain he was lying about the Doctor being gone for hours. But, on the other hand, it was equally possible that he'd piloted the TARDIS wrong.

"You don't need to be so moody," the Master said calmly. He stood up and walked in front of her and knelt down to her level. She quickly turned her head the other way, refusing to look at him. "I can see why he doesn't want you," he laughed.

"Stop it!" Rose shouted angrily, glaring at him. "He's coming back, ok? So just shut up!" She knew she shouldn't have done that, she should have just ignored him. But she couldn't help herself.

"You have so much trust in him," the Master cooed, "It's sweet really." He stood up again, and began to walk around the room. "If only you knew what he'd done before he met you."

"I'm not listening to you," Rose said firmly, knowing that he was just trying to wind her up.

"You should do," the Master replied.

"Well I'm not going to," Rose said decidedly.

"So stubborn," the Master remarked. Rose smiled to herself; the Doctor had always said she was stubborn as if it was a bad thing.

There was a long pause, until the Master spoke again. "Am I right in thinking that you and the Doctor are, shall we say, more than friends?" he asked, standing next to her.

"Why do you think that?" Rose asked, refusing to look up at him.

"The way he was protecting you," the Master replied, "He died for you." There was another pause. "Am I right?" Rose sighed.

"Yeah," she muttered. Frown spread across the Master's face.

"Interesting," he said thoughtfully. This time Rose looked up at him.

"Why?" she asked.

"A Time Lord in a relationship with another species… it's unheard of," he said, walking forward. Then suddenly he stopped. "Almost unheard of." He looked down at her curiously. "Tell me," he said, walking forward to her, "does the name Tom Sigma mean anything to you?" Rose's eyes widened, and before she could say no she'd already given to much away. The Master grinned and walked away again. "_Very _interesting," he said to himself.

"I've never heard of that name!" Rose said quickly, knowing that the Doctor didn't want anyone to know who he really was, especially not his enemy.

"Ooh the irony," the Master laughed, as a smile spread across his lips. "The Doctor is Tom Sigma. I'd never have guessed. And yet it all makes sense. Why else would the Doctor never reveal his identity?"

"And what about you?" Rose asked, knowing it was too late to deny who the Doctor was. "Why do you call yourself the Master?" he chuckled at her question.

"Why would I tell you that?" he asked.

"It's only fair," she replied.

"Since when was life fair?" the Master said bitterly. "I suppose the Doctor has got you believing a certain way, with a clear idea of good and evil," he speculated, looking down at Rose, who found it impossible to avoid his gaze. "I suppose you'd think _I'm _evil."

"I'd say that people who take other people hostage are generally evil," Rose muttered in response.

"And you'd think that people stopping other people's happiness is evil, too?" the Master asked.

"Yeah," she said, as if it was obvious. The Master tilted his head.

"Don't you understand?" he asked, "this is for the greater good!" He raised his arms, then knelt down in front of her. "I wish to eradicate free will, and under my order the universe will be rid of pain and suffering."

"You sound like a Cyberman," Rose whispered.

"Ah, but I do not wish for everyone to look like me," he added, standing up again.

"So you want to take over the universe to stop people's pain," Rose said, "not because you'd then control everything and could do what ever you want with reality?" She looked up at him, and he looked down at her.

"I simply wish to stop the pain," he said sincerely.

"So does the Doctor," Rose whispered.

"But he hasn't, has he?" the Master replied, kneeling down to her. "Tell me child – do you still feel pain?" she didn't need to answer for his point to make an impact. He leant closer to her. "Does _he _still feel pain?" There was a long silence, until the Master finally moved away. "I simply wish to stop it all," he said, and she could tell there was something deeper to his words.

But before she got to say anything, the room was filled with the distinct sound of TARDIS engines. Rose looked up as a familiar blue box faded into existence near the doors, and a huge grin spread across her face.

"Oh, what do you know," the Master said sarcastically, "He did come back after all." Rose shook her head as the engines stopped. Seconds later the Doctor ran out of the TARDIS, with Jack in tow. "Hello again Doctor," the Master said with a sly smile, "Or, should I say, Tom?" The Doctor stopped instantly, as his eyes widened in confusion. His brown furrowed as he stared at the Master.

"What?" he whispered. The Master couldn't help but laugh.

"Interesting, isn't it, life?" he said whimsically, walking around the consol, "You think you know someone then suddenly you find out something that you'd have never guessed." The Doctor watched him as he brushed his hand across the consol he was walking around. He knew there was little point in trying to deny it now.

"How…?" he gasped, shaking his head. The Master stopped, and looked down at Rose.

"Amazing what people will tell you," he said. The Doctor looked down at Rose with a look of surprise and, to a certain extent, hurt. Rose couldn't bear to look him in the eye and quickly turned her head away. The Doctor felt betrayed, but he knew Rose wouldn't just tell the Master something like that.

"What did you do to her?" he said darkly.

"I did nothing!" the Master said with a broad smile, "nothing at all. Did I Rose?" he looked at her for an answer, but she said nothing. "Strange, she was so talkative just now." He looked up at the Doctor with a glint in his eye. "How much do they know, Tom?" he asked, stepping forward, "How much of your childhood do they know about?"

"Enough," the Doctor snapped, "can we change the subject now?"

"Oh, my lord, no!" The Master laughed, "I wish to know about the life of Tom Sigma! Known across Gallifrey! What happened to you, all those years ago? You were believed to have died… and yet you live. I simply wish to know the truth." The Doctor took a deep breath as the Master watched him curiously.

"I'm not going to tell you," he said simply.

"I doubt that," the Master replied, glancing over at Rose. She gasped as she felt a pain rise through her back across her body and down her limbs.

"No, stop it!" the Doctor yelled. The Master glanced back at him, as he stopped Rose's pain. The Doctor took a deep breath. "What do you want to know?" he asked quietly.

"What happened to you," the Master said in an awed voice, "Everyone assumed you were dead."

"That's what I was aiming for," the Doctor muttered.

"So what really happened to you? No hang on, let's recap," the Master leant casually against the consol as the Doctor shifted awkwardly on the spot. "Your alien mother died in childbirth. Then your father committed suicide when you were five. You were put in an orphanage which most likely didn't want you until you couldn't stand the abuse any more and at the age of ten you ran away." Rose and Jack looked up at the Doctor in surprise at this new information, but his eyes stayed firmly fixed on the floor. "You had to live on the streets and protect yourself, a hard thing to do when everyone wants you dead. Is it right that gangs went after you trying to kill you? The more… polite people would just walk past or stare, but a few people actually did try to kill you?" the Master looked at the Doctor questioningly, but he didn't answer. "I'll take your silence as a yes." The Master moved from the consol and began to walk towards the Doctor. "After a few years you just… disappeared. No one knew where you'd gone or what happened to you, it was assumed you were dead. Not that anyone was complaining," the Master put his hands in his pockets, as he stood opposite the Doctor. "So what really happened? And why were you called Theta?" Again, the Doctor shifted awkwardly, but he had no choice but to answer him.

"I learnt how to stop people from knowing who I was, and started a new life as Theta Sigma. Ok?" the Doctor snapped, looking up at the Master.

"Because all us _pure_ Time Lords could sense it, couldn't we?" the Master said somewhat sarcastically. The Doctor visibly winced as he said the word 'pure'. "I can't sense it now, you've learnt to cover it up. Impressive." The Master folded his arms, tilting his head back in an attempt to look down at the Doctor, despite the fact that he was considerably shorter than him. "So what then? What did you do as Theta Sigma?"

"Oh you know, went to university, normal stuff."

"Studied to become a Time Lord," the Master observed.

"As the Doctor, yes." The Master frowned.

"Why the Doctor, and not Theta Sigma?" he asked.

"It's a long story," the Doctor replied.

"We've got plenty of time." The Doctor let out a long sigh.

"This wasn't part of the deal," he said.

"Yes, yes, of course, I do apologise," the Master said, walking away from the Doctor. "It must be hard to talk about such a traumatic past. Shall we talk about the Time War instead?"

"You really don't want to go to after the Time War," the Doctor said.

"Oh but I do."

"Oh but you don't." The Master sniggered.

"Why not?" the Doctor shook his head.

"You just don't."

"Tell me Doctor." He fixed his gaze on the Doctor, "Or do you just not want me there?"

"Well of course I don't want you there, if I had the choice of having a mad man follow me around trying to kill me I'd rather not." The Master chuckled. "But, other than that, it's really not nice. You'd be better off here."

"And why is that?" The Doctor stared back at the Master for a long moment.

"You think you know loneliness?" he said darkly, "You know _nothing_." There was a long silence following the Doctor's words. "How did you know I'd been in the war?" The Doctor asked suddenly.

"Your TARDIS was giving off readings," the Master replied, "very strange readings. I came to investigate." The Doctor nodded slowly. "Though I must ask – what became of the Time Lords in the war? And the Daleks? I can see that we won, but just out of interest, what happened?" the Doctor was silent, as the Master awaited his answer.

"We didn't win," he said finally.

"But you're alive," the Master said in confusion, "we must have won."

"Neither side won," the Doctor muttered sadly, "the Time Lords and the Daleks died. Both sides lost." The Master stared at him. "They all died. Everyone. Gallifrey's just rocks and dust floating in space." The Doctor looked at the Master sadly, as the Master simply stared back.

"And yet you live on?" he said, more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah," the Doctor said quietly.

"Why you?" the Master asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I've spent a long time wondering myself," the Doctor replied quietly. The Master looked to the floor, a solemn look on his face. But his expression quickly changed as a sinister smile came to his lips.

"Does that make you the last Time Lord?" he asked, looking back up. He didn't need the Doctor's response to know the answer. "While you mourn their loss, there is so much more you can do," there was a sparkle in his eyes, "no one to stop you, you could do anything."

"That's all you care about, isn't it?" the Doctor spat angrily, "Well guess what? You're wrong! With the Time Lords gone it doesn't give me _extra _powers over time and space! In fact it makes it _harder_! Now they're gone, any tiny paradox goes out of control with no one to stop it, the vortex is in flux, it's impossible to travel to parallel universes, and so many other things!" The Master, slightly surprised by the Doctor outburst, stared for a moment, but quickly recovered.

"Well if you don't take advantage of the situation," he said with a smile, "then I will. Now take me there before I grow impatient!" The Doctor sighed angrily. "Now," the Master ordered. The Doctor watched the Master for a long time.

"You'll regret it," he said.

"We'll see," the Master replied. The Doctor shook his head angrily and walked back into his TARDIS.


	36. Back Home

Ok, maybe I should apologise for the previous A/N: I really should have put a spoiler warning there, so sorry to anyone who didn't want to read it! Sorry sorry sorry!

And for the people it concerns: it was just my opinion, I'm not saying it's right or anything. Sorry if you felt it was out of place or wrong. Like I said, just my opinion.

Right, the story. This chapter isn't amazing by any standards, but I do like a few lines in it. After this there'll probably be only one or two more chapters, but I have a sequel in mind! I can just imagine everyone's annoyed faces now. Haven't thought of a title yet, I'll get back to you hopefully before the last chapter on that…

And I think you should all be proud of me for this chapter... it doesn't end on a cliffie! First chapter I've ever written that doesn't end on a cliffie lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

A grin spread across the Master's face as he watched the Doctor's TARDIS disappear from sight. Finally, _finally_, he was going to get out of this living hell and have a purpose once again.

The room around him began to shake, and he quickly went to the consol and started up the engines. He monitored the data flashing across the screen on the wall as he adjusted his navigation systems to follow the Doctor's TARDIS. The route automatically changed to match the Doctor's, and the Master watched with folded arms as his TARDIS flew through the vortex.

Then there was a crack of static, before the Doctor's voice filled the room.

"Just so you know, if the journey here's anything to go by, it'll be a bit of a bumpy ride," he said, then the intercom clicked off again. The Master laughed.

"A bumpy ride for his old TARDIS perhaps," he said.

"Oh believe me," muttered Rose, "When he says bumpy, he means bumpy." The Master just shook his head. It couldn't be that bad…

Suddenly he was thrown backwards and went crashing into a machine behind him and ended up lying on the floor. "Told ya," Rose said with a laugh. The room shook again, even more violently, as sparks flew from the consol. The Master quickly jumped to his feet and ran across the shaking ground to the consol and grabbed onto it. More sparks fell from the ceiling as the room swayed and rocked. The Master struggled against the TARDIS's controls as the engines groaned and struggled.

A ringing ran through the room as the consol started beeping. The Master quickly looked up at the screen as symbols scrolled down it.

"No no no!" he shouted angrily, attacking the controls on the consol.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Rose shouted over the noise.

"We're losing him!" the Master shouted back, "The connection between our TARDISs is being broken!" The room began to shake more and more as the engines struggled. "We can't get through," the Master said sadly, "We're going to get left behind." He sighed angrily and kicked the consol.

"But the Doctor wouldn't just leave!" Rose argued, "he's not just gonna leave us here!"

"I told you, the connection between our TARDISs is breaking, he doesn't know what's happening," he was forced to support himself on the consol as he nearly lost his footing to the shaking ground, "looks like neither of us is going to see him again," he muttered.

Rose almost choked at the Master's words. Surely they weren't just going to get left before the Time War… the Doctor would know, he wouldn't leave them. He'd come back for them. He must be able to do that…

She looked up at the Master who was trying to get his TARDIS to work, frowning angrily at his failed efforts. She buried her head in her arms and closed her eyes, not thinking about the chaos around her. All she could think of was the Doctor. They had to get back to him again, they just had to…

The Master slowly stepped back from the consol in awe as the beeping from the consol quietened and the engines ceased to struggle. Suddenly it was normal again, as if the TARDIS was having no trouble at all. But they couldn't have got through already, surely. He stepped back to the consol and looked up at the screen on the wall for an explanation.

As the reason for the TARDIS's sudden ease came on the screen, his eyes widened in disbelief. Slowly, he shook his head. "That's impossible…" he whispered. He looked down at Rose, who was sitting on the ground in the foetal position, her head buried in her arms. He looked back at the screen. It was saying that there was something taking them through the vortex and holding onto the Doctor's TARDIS… and that something was her.

He shook his head, not believing a word of it. He pressed a button and looked at the screen as he read how she was doing this.

When he saw how his eyes widened even wider in amazement.

xxx

The Doctor stood staring at the consol as the engines worked effortlessly, symbols flashing across the screen telling him that everything was going perfectly, every part of the TARDIS was working fine, a safe route had been planned and they'd be arriving back on Earth after the war in a matter of minutes.

"That's not right," he muttered.

"How's it not right?" Jack asked, "Looks pretty good to me."

"Since when did you see the TARDIS working this well?" the Doctor asked with a frown on his face, "this should be just as bad as when we came here. But everything's working perfectly. Like someone's helping us through…" he walked up to the consol and asked the TARDIS for an explanation.

"The White Guardian?" Jack suggested. The Doctor shook his head.

"Not according to these readings," he said. Then there was a beep, and a smile spread across the Doctor's lips.

"So? What is it?" Jack watched the Doctor curiously as he sat back in the chair.

"I think we can relax now," he said calmly.

xxx

Jackie sat on a sofa in her flat, staring out the window over looking the place the TARDIS usually lands. She shifted her position. In an hour she was going to meet up with some friends of hers, but until then she had nothing to do. For a brief moment she understood why Rose travelled with the Doctor: at least she'd never get bored. She then remembered that the reason Rose never got bored was because she spent most of the time running for her life, and decided that she preferred this life.

Then out of the window she saw a flashing light. She grinned as she knew exactly what that meant, and jumped off the sofa.

30 seconds later she was watching the familiar blue police public call box materialise in front of her, and wondering why there appeared to be a slightly more familiar red phone box appearing next to it.

Seconds later both had completely materialised, as the dual sound of engines died down. She eyed the red box suspiciously – was this another TARDIS?

Suddenly the doors of the Doctor's TARDIS flew open and the Doctor strode out and went straight to the other phone box and started banging impatiently on the door. Jackie watched him slightly bemused, as Jack came out of the TARDIS after him and watched. She couldn't help but notice he had a few faint cuts and bruises on his skin.

"Master!" He shouted, standing back from the door. He watched it impatiently, rocking from foot to foot. He was about to walk back up to the door when it suddenly opened, and much to Jackie's surprise a man came out. "Where's Rose?" The Doctor demanded. Jackie's breath caught – it didn't take a genius to figure out that this guy had her daughter.

"She's fine," he said distractedly, looking at their surroundings.

"I did as you wanted now release her," the Doctor ordered. The Master turned back to the Doctor.

"She's very impressive," he said, "if a little unorthodox."

"I know," the Doctor replied, "that's why I like her. Now release her."

"It's not every day you find a human who's looked into the heart of a TARDIS," the Master said, folding his arms. "She absorbed the time vortex… am I right?"

"Yes you are."

"Can I ask why?"

"To save the universe."

"Very heroic."

"Indeed."

"I suppose you know then that she used her connection to my TARDIS to look into both our TARDISs and secure the journey back here?"

"I guessed as much."

"Clever girl."

"Yes. Can you release her now?" The Master cracked a smile at the Doctor's impatience, then headed back into his TARDIS. The Three of them watched for a few moments, until the door flew open and Rose ran out. The Doctor ran up to her and pulled her into a hug, as she clung onto him. Jackie stared at her daughter as she noticed she too had various injuries on her arms and face, more prominent than the Doctor's. Something she'd have to ask about later, clearly. After a few seconds she and the Doctor parted, and he lifted his hands to her cheeks, his face inches from hers.

"You ok?" he asked, looking into her tired eyes.

"Yeah," she whispered, giving him a weak smile. At that point the Master came out again, and the Doctor pulled Rose closer towards him: there was no way he was going to let the Master get hold of her again.

"So protective," the Master observed.

"One has to be around you." The Master smiled to himself at the Doctor's words, but the smile quickly faded. A moment of silence passed.

"You can feel it, can't you," the Doctor said, more of a statement than a question.

"You were right," the Master muttered, "They're all gone." The Doctor tilted his head to the side.

"You think I'd lie to you?" the Master didn't answer, he just stared at the ground. "I did warn you." Suddenly the Master's head came up to look at the Doctor.

"Only a weakling would see this as a set back," he said quickly, with a smile on his face. "The death of the Time Lords is not a weakness. Now I will have no one to stop me in my quest to become the Master of all Matter." Rose found it hard not to giggle at his cheesy title.

"Except for me, of course," the Doctor said smugly. "I've stopped you before, what makes you think I can't do it again?" The Master watched the Doctor for a moment, then put his hands behind his back and walked up to him.

"Because there is one crucial difference between now and when we last met," he said, as he stopped in front of the Doctor. "You're in love," he said simply, smiling slyly as he saw the Doctor hold Rose tighter. He gave his enemy a quick, sarcastic smile, before turning around and heading back to his TARDIS.

The Doctor watched the Master disappear into his TARDIS, which then also proceeded to disappear. As the sound of TARDIS engines, familiar but somehow different, echoed through the air, Jack and Jackie turned to face the Doctor, the latter with an expression somewhere between confused and angry. He released his grip on Rose, and looked between the two rather awkwardly.

"What did he mean?" Jackie demanded. "Why did he have Rose, and _why_ did he say you were in love?!" the Doctor shifted awkwardly on the spot and looked down to Rose who was standing next to him.

"She's your mother," he muttered to her.

"She asked you the question," Rose muttered back.

"Excuse me," Jackie said angrily, "Stop calling me 'she' and answer my questions!" the Doctor shifted a bit more, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well," he said finally, "the Master had Rose because he kidnapped her, and he said I'm in love because…" he paused and looked down at Rose for a second, then back up at Jackie, "because I love her." There was a long silence, as Jackie stared at them. The Doctor braced himself for a slap, even though Rose had assured him she wouldn't do that.

Finally and strode up to him and, contrary to what Rose said, smacked him across the face with a loud crack. Rose and Jack winced as the Doctor's hand flew to his cheek and he stared at Jackie in bemusement.

"That's for getting Rose kidnapped," Jackie said angrily, but her anger quickly faded into a smile. She pulled him into a hug and he stood for a few moments in utter confusion as Jackie held him, then removed her arms and stepped back. "And that's for loving my daughter," she said warmly. Rose smiled as Jackie approved, while the Doctor continued to stare at her. "Shall we go upstairs then?" Jackie said, turning around and heading back for the flats. After a few seconds, the three of them followed her.

xxx

The Doctor sat next to Rose on a sofa while Jack sat in the chair, rubbing his red cheek. Jackie was in the kitchen making tea, humming to herself.

"I told you she'd slap me," the Doctor said smugly to Rose.

"Ah but she slapped you because I got kidnapped," Rose retorted, looking up at him, "not because of our relationship."

"You say that," the Doctor muttered. At that point Jackie came back in with a tray of teacups that she set down on the coffee table, before taking her own cup and taking a seat. The other three took a cup each, leaning back in their seats and gratefully drinking the hot liquid; it had been a long time since they'd been able to fully relax.

"So, come on, tell," Jackie said excitedly like a teenager hearing the latest gossip, "How'd you two get together?" the Doctor and Rose glanced at each other, before the Doctor looked fixatedly at his tea in an attempt to tell Rose that it was her turn to answer a question. She seemed to get the hint.

"The Doctor… well, he told me that he loved me," Rose summarised. She decided it was better to miss out the state the Doctor was in when he told her.

"It's about bloody time," Jackie said, and Jack had to agree. "So come on, why'd he tell you?" Rose looked towards the Doctor, who was still staring at his tea.

"It's a long story," she said.

"That means you're not going to tell me, doesn't it?" Jackie guessed.

"Yeah," Rose said with a nod. Jackie sighed and shook her head. "Ok then, next question. What the hell happened to you two??" Rose and the Doctor looked at her in slight confusing. "Look at you! You look like someone's beaten you up!" they looked at each other, and suddenly realised what she meant; their wounds hadn't quite healed yet from the Time War.

"That's also a long story," Rose said.

"Funnily enough they're both intertwined," the Doctor muttered. Jackie sighed in annoyance.

"Why won't you tell me?" she asked, "Rose, when you get home you're usually dying to tell me everything that's happened! You're usually speaking so fast I can't get a word in edgeways!"

"Yeah, well… it's different this time," Rose mumbled.

"Why?" Jackie asked. The Doctor sighed at her question; she could be as stubborn as Rose sometimes.

"Just is," Rose replied. Jackie decided it was probably best not to ask.

"What about Deb? Did you get her back home?"

"Yeah," the Doctor answered, nodding distractedly.

"Good," Jackie said. A moment passed. "Are you going to tell me anything that happened then?" the three of them let out a laugh.

"You wouldn't be interested," the Doctor said.

"Yes I would!" Jackie argued, "I want to know who that man was and why he had Rose! Or is it just one long story?" they laughed again.

"Pretty much," the Doctor replied.

"Oh, bundle of laughs you are," Jackie said sarcastically. The Doctor grinned.

"Of course we are!" he joked, jumping out of his seat and putting his empty mug on the tray. "And I've just thought of something I need to do. Rose, care to come to the TARDIS with me?" Rose grinned at him and placed her nearly full mug on the table; she had no idea how he'd finished his drink already. The two of them held hands as they walked out the door.

Jack and Jackie watched them leave, and completely failed to make any sort of conversation. Jack ran his hands over his face; he hated it when Rose and the Doctor left him like this.


	37. Forever

Whoo! Last chapter! XD Hope you all like it, I spent ages trying to get it just right...

IT'S TOMORROW! DOCTOR WHO IS ON TOMORROW! Everyone party! And it looks AMAZING even if there is a distinct lack of Rose, but on the plus side aparently the kiss is not romantic which is good XD

Sorry for the long update, I've been really busy. But I shouldn't take so long next time... not that there will be a next time as this is the last chapter.

But I'm going to do a sequal! I'm going to call it 'Happy End,' unless another idea suddenly hits me, which I hope it does as happy end isn't a brilliant title.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Also I took a few lines from the second series, and if you don't notice them and you call yourself a Doctor Who fan there's something wrong with you!

xxx

Rose sat on a bed in the med bay as the Doctor ran the sonic screwdriver over her, the blue light shining on her body like a searchlight. She watched him in slight confusion as he looked over her intently with his glasses perched on the edge of his nose – he still hadn't told her exactly what he was doing. He clearly wasn't about to tell her what he was up to either, so she decided the only way to find out was to ask him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Making sure you're not still connected to the Master's TARDIS," the Doctor answered without looking up, "if there's still a connection he could easily teleport you back."

"You can break the connection if there is one, right?"

"Oh yes," he answered smugly. He reached her head and she squinted as the blue light shone into her eyes. "Sorry," he muttered, as he moved around her. Then he turned the screwdriver off and whipped his glasses from his nose. "Brilliant!" he enthused, "Looks like you broke the connection. Clever girl!" he grinned at her and she shook her head, laughing. "We'll probably have to stay here for a few days," the Doctor said seriously as he put his sonic screwdriver and glasses away, "the TARDIS will need a rest. I'll put a blocker on the TARDIS so the Master doesn't detect us here, otherwise he'll probably come back. I'm surprised he let you go like that, he actually stuck to his word for once." He turned around and walked over to a counter and pulled out a drawer.

"Maybe he was surprised," Rose said as she watched him from the bed.

"What do yo mean?" he asked, rummaging through the drawer.

"I mean, you said you can feel the Time Lords are gone. Maybe he felt that too." The Doctor paused for a second.

"Maybe," he said quietly, then went back to the drawer. "Aha!" he shouted suddenly as he pulled something out then ran back to Rose. "Blocker. I'll just install this and we'll be home free!"

"Why did you have that in a drawer in the med bay?" Rose asked, failing to see any logic in the Doctor's choice of location for the high-tech looking gadget.

"If I even started to explain that to you," he said in a low voice, holding it at head height, "it would be so _amazingly _intellectual, you won't have a clue what I'm on about."

"I'm sure," Rose said with sarcastic suspicion. The Doctor spun the device around in his hand then put it in his pocket.

"Course you are," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "Coming?" he asked as he walked towards the door. Rose jumped off the bed and followed him out the room.

xxx

Rose leant against the TARDIS consol watching the Doctor as he attached the blocker to the TARDIS's circuits.

"You know," she said as the Doctor worked, "I kinda feel bad about leaving Jack up there on his own with mum."

"He'll be fine, he can't die. Nothing she can do to him will kill him."

"I mean because she's probably trying to force him to tell her what happened!" Rose said with a laugh.

"He won't tell," the Doctor replied, "besides, he's probably flirting with her as we speak." Rose shuddered at the thought of Jack and her mum flirting. Thankfully, when they'd first taken him to meet her, he'd kept the flirting to a minimum. Still, she wondered what he was doing up there.

xxx

Jack sat cross-legged on the floor of the Tyler flat in complete and utter bafflement. In front of him lay the remains of what was once Jackie's TV, now in bits from where he'd taken it apart after being asked to fix it. Being a gentleman, he was never one to say no to a lady.

But this was just confusing. 21st century technology was so illogical. He was aware of Jackie standing above him sniggering at the fact that he had failed to fix her TV after he'd said he could do it in 10 seconds flat. Stupid bloody 21st century TV. Rose and the Doctor better get back soon…

xxx

"Done!" the Doctor stood up and proudly admired his work. Rose looked at the small device on the floor with a number of wires sticking out of it.

"Doesn't look to hard," she muttered, "I could have done that." He looked at Rose with mock hurt.

"I'd like to see you try!" he shouted, trying to sound insulted. She just laughed at him.

"Come on, you," she said, walking outside. He followed her as she walked to the doors, and went out.

As Rose stepped outside, she was hit by a cold breeze. It was starting to get dark, the bright blue sky now a darker shade of indigo. Rose looked up with a smile, glad to be home. She heard the Doctor join her as he closed the door behind them. He took her hand as he stood next to her, and joined her gaze up to the sky.

"Seems like we haven't been back here in ages," Rose said thoughtfully, "but it's only been a few days. It's usually weeks before we come back for a visit."

"Yeah…" the Doctor agreed, watching the sky. Then suddenly a thought hit Rose.

"You never said," she started, looking up at him, "why did you call yourself the Doctor instead of Theta when you went travelling?" he looked slightly surprised at her question, but answered it nonetheless.

"Because I made a lot of enemies. And they all knew who I was and where I was from, and I didn't want to endanger my family. Plus, like I said before, 'the Doctor' is more mysterious," he gave her a grin, and she had to agree.

"I always wondered who you really were. I don't think I could have ever quite imagined…" she trailed off, sighing as she looked back out to the sky. She noticed a distant look in the Doctor's eyes, a look she recognised.

"You ok?" she asked. He looked down at her quickly.

"Fine, yeah," he said with a smile. "Brilliant," he added as he grinned. She smiled back, as he leant down and caught her lips with his. She gladly kissed back, wrapping her arms around his neck. The breeze whipped their clothes, but they completely failed to notice. The Doctor ran his hands up her back, her skin tingling at his touch, even if it was through her clothes. He raised a hand to her chin and gently caressed her. They broke apart, but stayed close. "I think," the Doctor said quietly, as he opened his eyes to meet hers, "that we can find somewhere slightly more romantic than the Powell Estate." She sniggered, and lowered her hand to meet his.

"Come on then," she said, as she stepped backwards. He followed her as she lead him, and they ran off into the London night.

xxx

Living in the centre of London generally meant that you weren't exactly spoilt for choice when it came for romantic places. Not that Rose or the Doctor cared.

They ran across the Thames bank and up onto a bridge. The Doctor stopped as they reached the centre, and Rose ran into his open arms. She pressed her lips to his as they immediately deepened the kiss. They stumbled across to the side of the bridge and leant against the side, before the Doctor moved over so Rose had her back against the wall. It was about waist height, and he lifted her up and sat her on it. She wrapped her legs around his body as he moved closer to her. She ran her hands through his hair, as he slipped one hand into hers, while holding her back with the other. The skin on the back of her neck tingled as he ran his hand across it, his cool touch against her like nothing she'd felt before. She breathed deeply as he held her against him, his hand underneath the bottom of her top.

"Get a room!" they broke apart laughing as the stranger shouted at them then walked past. The Doctor turned around to see who'd said it, but the person was already gone. Rose just laughed as she perched on the wall, watching the Doctor look around for the person.

Suddenly there was a gust of wind and she found herself falling backwards. She screamed and flung her arms forward, gasping for something to hold onto. The Doctor spun around and quickly grabbed her arm before she could fall any further, and quickly pulled her back up and off the wall. She leant against him, her heart thudding.

"I think I'll stay off the wall now thanks," she said into his jacket.

"Yeah, I'm not having you fall off into the river now, after everything we've just been through," he moved away and held her by the shoulders, "it would be a bit of an anti-climax." She laughed and hit him playfully on the arm, and he pulled her in for a hug. She leant against him, as he put his arm around her shoulders. They looked out into the twilight sky in front of them, as the sun set over the river, casting red rays over the near black sky. The water was a dark blue, as the bright yellow reflection rippled on the surface. Rose looked up at the starless sky, knowing that despite the light pollution there was a whole universe of stars out there, and that she was one of the only people on the planet that could go up and see them closer. Thanks to the man standing next to her, the man she loved. Then a thought crossed her mind that she hadn't yet thought of.

"Doctor."

"Yeah?"

"Um, this is gonna sound weird, but, um… I'm guessing it is, but just to check, is it possible for us to have kids?"

The Doctor nearly chocked and looked at Rose with a bewildered expression.

"Bit early, don't ya think?" he said in a similarly bewildered voice.

"Yeah, yeah, but I mean, is it possible? Cause if I did get pregnant, well… what would we do?" she watched the Doctor curiously.

"Um… I don't know. But it doesn't matter anyway, because no, it isn't possible."

"But your parents-"

"My parents were alive at a different time, before the curse."

"What curse?" the Doctor took a long sigh.

"A long time ago, there was a curse on the Time Lords. It rendered them all sterile, and the only way they could reproduce was by looming, which is sort of taking DNA from both parents and making a baby. Long story behind that, won't go into it now, but basically no it's not possible. Is that… ok?" he looked at her slightly nervously, but she just smiled.

"Yeah! Probably a good thing, I don't know what we'd do with a baby. I guess we'd have to settle down."

"Probably. Scary thought. We'd have to be… _domestic_." Rose sniggered as the Doctor grimaced. "But it doesn't matter anyway." Rose smiled, as she thought about raising a family with the Doctor.

"Funny, I can't imagine you as a father," she said.

"I've been a father, you know that."

"Yeah, but…" she paused, as she thought of something. "Was Jack right?" she asked after a few moments, "about Deneeal, did something happen to him?" the Doctor's smile faded, as he stared forward at the setting sun.

"He died," he said simply. Rose gasped in disbelief.

"What? But… how?"

"The Black Guardian had done something to him, and when I teleported them back… his body was under too much stress. When I woke up, he was dead. No one ever knew why or what happened. And of course I got the blame for it," he said the last sentence rather bitterly, and Rose could understand why.

"I'm sorry," she whispered sincerely.

"Nah, don't be. It's ok. 800 years ago I think I've gotten over it by now," he gave her a smile, and looked back out to the sunset. "Besides, worse things have happened since then." She had to agree with him on that.

"It's not fair," she muttered quietly.

"What's not fair?"

"Everything that's happened to you! Nothing ever goes right for you."

"Oh come on, that's a bit of an overstatement, don't you think?"

"No."

"If none of it had happened chances are I wouldn't be here now. Like I said, growing up like that made me stronger. I'd probably have died I the Time War if it didn't happen. Then I'd never have met you," he smiled at her warmly, and gave her a squeeze. She smiled, but only for a second.

"But that's the point," she said, "it's like you said: humans wither and die, but you don't age. One day I'm going to die and you'll just keep living on, forever," she stepped aside and looked at him, and he looked at her. "I'm gonna die at some point, and you're 900 years old, I could die in 50 years time and it would seem like nothing to you. And you'd keep living for centuries. We can't be together forever," he could see her eyes begin to shine with tears, and she made no effort to stop them. He walked up to her and put a hand on her cheek, leaning in close towards her.

"Then let's make the most of what time we have left," he said quietly, looking into her eyes. He then closed his and kissed her gently, as he felt her tears wet his skin. She felt him move back away from her, but could still feel his breath on her skin. She opened her eyes to meet his deep, brown ones, so full of love. Another tear fell down her cheek, but for so many different things.

She raised her hand to meet his as it rested against her cheek. He smiled warmly, and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back, wrapping her arms around his waist, as the moonlight shone down on them in the dark night.

xxx

Jack was infinitely relieved when he heard the doorbell to the flat go, followed by Jackie's high-pitched voice greeting her daughter. He felt slightly embarrassed about the fact that there was an unfixed television in front of him, but he was so frustrated with it he really didn't care that much now.

He heard the three of them walk in behind him, and two sit down on sofas either side of the room.

"What have you done to that TV, Jack?" he heard the Doctor's voice from behind him.

"I'm fixing it," he said quietly. The Doctor frowned at the mess in front of his friend that at one point resembled a TV.

"I'm sure you are," he muttered, then sat next to Rose.

"It's a stupid TV." Jack threw a part angrily on the ground when he realised he had no idea what it was. "I can use the TARDIS but I can't fix a bloody TV!"

"Time Lord technology makes a lot more sense than human technology," the Doctor said with a grin.

"For once I'll have to agree," Jack muttered, standing up and finding a chair to sit in. Jackie waited for a few moments, before voicing a question that had been on her mind.

"You two, if you're a couple now, then I've got a question for you. I know it might seem a bit early, but I need to know – is it possible for you to have children?" Jackie watched them as Rose almost laughed, and the Doctor looked around in bemusement.

"You humans!" he said in disbelief, "what is it with you? Two people get together and the first thing you think of is children!" he buried his head in his hands and Jackie looked at Rose for an explanation.

"No," she said simply, "we can't have children."

"Oh," Jackie muttered, slightly disappointed. "I guess no chance of me being a grandmother then."

"Do you _want _to be a grandmother?!" Rose gasped.

"Well not _now_," Jackie replied, "but at some point, maybe. But I guess there's no chance now." Rose shook her head.

"Time Lords and humans having children… doesn't tend to work to well," the Doctor muttered. Jackie didn't notice the awkwardness that came between her guests.

"Ooh, Rose, I almost forgot," she said suddenly, "Shareen's got a new boyfriend. She told me to tell you if I got the chance."

"Really?" Rose instantly pulled her phone out of her pocket and started to dial a number.

"She's not the only one," muttered Jack as Rose held her phone of her ear.

"Shareen! It's Rose!" she said excitedly, then stood up and walked out the room as they both obsessed about their new boyfriends.

The Doctor shook his head as he heard Rose laugh in the other room, and a smile came to his face as he heard her say, 'he loves me he loves me!' in a high-pitched squeal. He couldn't help but laugh. Honestly, humans and their gossip. How annoying.

xxx

Two people stumbled down a deserted London road, their uneven footsteps clicking in the air, their laughter cutting through the otherwise impenetrable silence.

The Doctor held Rose to stop her falling over as she grabbed another chip from the bag he was carrying. He too took one as she put hers in her mouth. The street was empty and their laughs echoed down the road, the only other sound the gentle whistling of the wind.

They came out of the street and were once again near the Thames, the only difference now being that it was night and not twilight. They ran up the bridge that they'd been on before, the Doctor dropping the now empty chip bag in a nearby bin, and leant on the wall. Rose wrapped her arms around him, and caught him in another kiss. He enveloped her in his arms, as her hands rested against his chest. Rose smiled and leant back, giggling. The Doctor got the feeling she was ever so slightly tipsy. Not that could really blame her, they had gone to numerous pubs with Jack, Shareen and her new boyfriend, but he and Rose had lost the others and ended up stumbling down the streets on their own.

Rose leant her head against his chest, and he rested his head on hers, smiling to himself.

"I love you…" he heard Rose mumble, "so much…"

"Me too," he said warmly, as he tilted his head to look up to the sky.

"We'll be together forever, yeah?" she murmured, keeping her head in the same place, closing her eyes. "Never ever get split up." The Doctor kept looking to the sky, as a frown formed on his face.

"Never say never ever," he said thoughtfully.

"Aah we'll be ok," she slurred, looking up to him, "you and me. Dontcha think?" he kept looking up at the sky, and she looked up with him.

"Something's coming," he said quietly, as if he didn't dare to say it in case he might be right, "something in the air." He held her slightly tighter as it seemed to get colder, and something wasn't right. "A storm is approaching."


End file.
